The Snow Angel with Golden Wings
by RueLin
Summary: Dark has appeared in a tiny kingdom to do what he does best, but suddenly out on a whim he gets very close to the princess of the kingdom. As cold and sad she really is, Dark grows close to her. Love sprouted, but was soon sealed away by time.
1. Chapter 1

One

Once upon a time, an angel fell from the sky, an angel with black wings sent by the God to steal away the treasures that can harm humans. Meanwhile the devil sent an angel of his, one disguised as a heavenly angel to fight the black winged angel. The settings they were placed in are very quiet; nothing happens as the black angel, Dark, steals the artifacts. Krad, the white angel, on the other hand works on behalf of higher rank trying to catch Dark. Without disturbing the world of humans the angels unleash their powers to do their tasks. But another sent another angel without their knowing. A feather handed down from generation to generation holds the angel's true from. The story of the original Dark and Krad begins now!

(Disclaimer: I only own the entire kingdom of Rutile, Yuki-hime (Princess Yuki), Kyo-oji (Prince Kyo), and Theodil-o (King Theodil).)

Rutile, a kingdom near the ocean embraced by a great vast forest. The people live quiet lives never involved in war almost untouched by the rest of the world. During the era that everything changed, there was, like all classical princess stories, a beautiful princess. But unlike the classics, you can describe Yuki-hime as a beautiful ice princess. Very little people know why she acts the way she does. Never smiling, never laughing, always a straight face, emotionless. Why she pays no attention to those around her. If the kingdom were to perish she wouldn't mind, she wouldn't mind dying as long as one person lives, the crown prince, and her younger brother, Kyo-oji. The young prince was everything that the princess wasn't. Always laughing, always smiling a stupid smile for his sister, but she would only smile for him.

Nobody knew when the change happened, but I know. So, let me tell you. It all started on a rather warm autumn day when a traveler carrying nothing but a sack of clothing and a tiny wallet of only a few coins walked through the wide gates of Rutile.

"Oh, this seems like a nice little kingdom," the traveler said looking around, "Ah, that's a nice ocean smell. I think I can get used to this place rather quickly. Now time to find a part-time job!"

Our traveler, in fact the angel, Dark, walked through the city looking from store to store. His strides were nice and even as if he's lived here for years. Even after many of the women and girls of the city started gazing at him as he crossed paths with them. Some of the younger girls even started to follow him around. He's become a celebrity already.

"Um," one of the braver girls came up to him blushing like mad and forced out the words, "Um… um… May I ask what you name is?"

"That's the question I should be asking," Dark said getting really close to her, only inches away, "Ohime-sama"

The girl blushed like mad as if she was to blow any minute. Instantly many of the other girls circled around Dark asking him questions, trying to get the same result.

"Haha," Dark laughed, calming down the mob of girls "you girls here are pretty cute, but if you continue like this I'm going to suffocate."

Suddenly in a blink of an eye every one backed away. Confused as to what the heck was happening, Dark looked around, "I said I would suffocate, but it wasn't that bad."

Then a carriage pulled up to almost in front of him. He watched as some of the people walked away, minding there own business occasionally glancing at the carriage as if it was something to be cautious about. The driver hopped off his seat and opened the door. Out stepped a fair maiden with silver hair with a tint of light purple. Dark's mouth dropped opened just a little. She was a gorgeous girl, about the same age as the other girls that were no longer in sight.

"Hime-sama," the driver said, "Please watch your step."

"Thank you," she said and stepped lightly on the ground, she looked over a Dark who was still staring at her. She narrowed her eyes, but not in a good way. She looked just a little angry. Dark was a little taken back by this expression, but suddenly a huge gust of wind flew through the sky. The princess's hair came loose and started to dance with the wind, but she still kept looking at Dark.

"Hime-sama, you coat," the driver offered her, "What about your hair? Do you wish for us to look for the hair pin?"

"Never mind it," the princess said in a sternly voice as she put on her coat turning away from Dark, "I just wish to walk around the park. Being stuck in that castle is making me cramped. Let's go."

"As you wish, Hime-sama," the driver said and they enter the park.

Dark watched them until they were out of sight. He took a step forward and stepped on something. He looked down to remove his foot. It was the princess' hairpin. He bent down and picked it up. It had many intricate designs on it along with a sapphire in the center. Dark blew on it and dusted it off.

"Young man!" an elderly woman called, "Would you mind coming here?"

Dark crossed the empty street to the woman, "Is there a problem?"

"Sorry for the trouble, but can you help me bring these bags of potatoes in?"

"No problem," Dark said and picked up a large sack of potatoes.

There were six large sacks and he was quiet warn out by the time he brought it all in the storage room.

"Thank you for all your help. It would have taken me forever to bring it all in."

"It's not a problem. A man should to all the work anyways."

"Anyways, come in," she said Dark followed.

He sat down and looked around. The old woman was the keeper of an inn, although she doesn't have many costumers she still makes a good income every week to keep the place.

"Here have some soup. It suddenly turned so cold," the old woman said handing him a little bowl full of chicken soup, "It must be the princess' coming here."

"That nonsense," Dark said taking the bowl, "It's turning cold because winter's coming."

"You must be new to here," the woman said sitting down across the table from Dark, "The person you met is Yuki-hime. She has an alias in this city, we call her the Snow Princess."

"Why 'snow princess?' Is it because of her white hair?"

"No, not really. Before the princess was born, it has never snowed for hundreds of years. And then on the very day that she was born it snowed. Thus, she was given the name Snow Princess."

"I see. So how's the princess like?"

"I haven't actually seen her up close with my two eyes, but I've heard that after her mother died, she's never smiled. Her skin is cold to the touch. Every body that hears the name for the first time will think that she fair and nice like Snow white from the fairytale, but that's only a fairytale after all."

"Is she really that bad?"

"It's not that she's bad, it she's just…cold. There's really not other way to describe her. The King's even tried many methods to change her."

"What kind of methods?"

"You know, there's therapy, palm reading, fortune telling, the king's even called some of the men in the city to try to warm her up. Nothing has ever worked."

"How was her mother killed?"

"Kidnappers and assassins. They were really targeting Yuki-hime, but her mother stood in their way, so they got rid of her."

"No wonder, she probably blames herself for her mother's death and locked away her emotions," Dark said looking through his bag for something, and then the hairpin fell out.

"Oh my, where did you get that?" the old woman asked.

"Ah, when I saw her, there was a gust of wind and it flew to my feet, so I picked it up."

"Oh, you should sell it. It would pay a lot."

"No, I think I'll return it."

"Return it? Why would you do that? How would you do that?"

"It belongs to her, I'm sure she misses it. I'm sure that I will meet her someday again."

"You're a nice person," the woman said, "I'll let you stay here until you can get on your feet."

"Really? That would help a lot!" Dark said standing up and taking the woman's hand, "Thank you so much Oba-san!"

"Don't call me Oba-san!" the old woman said hitting Dark on the head, "Call me Remu-san!"

"Yes, I got it!" Dark said rubbing his hand, "I'm Dark."

"Ok, Dark now you better find a job soon or you'll be draggin' those sacks of potatoes in and out every day! Got it?!"

"Yes!"


	2. Chapter 2

Two

At the castle, the princess has just returned form her walk. She continues through the large courtyard alone.

"Yuki," the king called from the side, "You were out again weren't you?"

"Yes," she said, "I thought it was a nice day to go out for a walk, won't you agree Father?"

"It is, but I hope you wouldn't cause the people trouble. Rumors will start again."

"I wouldn't care if they did anyways."

"It's not that, I just don't want you to end up like your mother that's all."

"The only place that kidnappers and assassins will appear will be here at the castle. Keeping me locked up isn't doing anything good for me."

"Yuki," the King said and paused, his daughter was right, keeping her locked up here won't help, "never mind. Carry on."

The princess continued to walk across the large courtyard. The leaves have started to grow orange and yellow, some were scattered on the ground. The princess reached into her collar and took out a necklace with a tiny gold feather. She rubbed it with her slim fingers and tucked it back in. Yes, it was here that she witnessed her mother killed. This very courtyard, so long ago, it held memories that were supposed to never happen. Yuki suddenly noticed how cold it was.

"Onee-sama," the crown prince called from where her father was standing.

"Kyo, what are you doing here? You'll catch a cold wearing only that," she said and hurried over to him.

She threw her coat over him; "I don't want you catch a cold, especially when the weather's changing."

"I got it, Onee-sama," Kyo said pushing her hand away from messing around with his hair, "But you're going to catch a cold now. Come on let's go to your room."

He grabbed her hand a started making way to her room. She smiled and started going with him.

"Alright Onee-sama," Kyo said tucking his older sister in her own large bed, "Get warm and take a nap."

"Alright, I got it Kyo. You take care of yourself first. Your body's frailer than mine. And plus you are the crown prince you can't get sick. Hurry to your room and I promise that I'll take a nap."

"Fine, but you better not get sick."

"I got it you go already!" Yuki said and threatened to throw a pillow at him, and Kyo hurried out of the room.

Kyo quickly closed the door, but kept it a little bit opened and peeked inside to make sure that Yuki is going to sleep. He waited, staring at her bed's head until he saw her jump into the bed.

"Good, she's sleeping," he muttered to himself.

"Kyo-sama!" someone called.

"Yes!" he said standing straight up.

"I hope you plan on getting back to your studies," it ended up being his grouchy teacher.

"I was going, but Onee-sama told me to sleep," Kyo said trying to get out of the situation.

"You can take a nap after you're done with your studies. Now let's get moving, Kyo-sama!" and thus Prince Kyo was ushered to doing lessons again.

* * *

"Remu-san," Dark called out from the door of the inn Remu-san owned, "I'm going out for awhile."

"Where are you going," she asked while serving a customer another serving of food.

"I'm going to find a job," Dark said already out the door.

Dark walked on the bright streets of the over-sized city and entered the park. He continued to walk until he reached a clearing deep inside. He took a note from one of his leather pockets, and scanned the paper with his eyes.

"This should be the last of it," he says to himself, "Alright, time to work!"

He puts the paper back into his pocket. Suddenly wings that was darker than black sprang out of Dark's back. He flapped them and flew away.

* * *

The sky glowed a yellow-orange color when the princess woke up. She has slept for four hours. She put her hand up to hold her head.

"Great," she cursed, "Now I won't be able to sleep at night. Not like it'll make much of a difference since its already sunset."

Yuki entered the bath in her room and turned on the water. She left the water to run as she went to her giant closet and got a change of clothes for sleeping. After stripping, Yuki tied her hair up. She hurriedly slipped into the hot water. After a good half an hour of just sitting the warm water, Yuki finally got out.

When she left the bathroom the sun has already set and all that was left was a purple sky.

She let her hair down and opened the double glass doors that lead to her balcony. She peered out to the sea as her hair slowly floated with the silent breeze. Suddenly, she thought about her hairpin. It was one that her mother and Kyo had got her for one of her birthdays. Now she thought it was lost forever. She turned around to return to her room.

"I have found you!" Someone snickered maliciously from behind.

Yuki quickly turned around to see a masked man. A very grotesque mask stared at her in the eye.

"Who are you!" she shouted, but then the man covered her mouth with a sickly thin arm. He held her very close to him.

"It doesn't matter who I am. It just matters who you are. And you are the Yuki-hime, right? Right!"

Yuki retaliated, but his hold was strong.

"You know you've really changed since you were just a little girl. I remember. I remember it like it was yesterday! The day my brother was killed by you!"

Yuki ran forward and somehow came loose to the attacker's grip. She ran to the end of the balcony.

"You!" she remembered, the day ten years ago. Her mother was watching her play in the courtyard, just then a masked man, the same one now, flew over the great walls of the castle and headed for her. Her mother rushed in to protect her. Then another appeared, a different mask. He held out a knife and threatened the queen, holding the young princess as hostage. Her mother tried to get her daughter. Suddenly, the man's brother leaped at her with a weapon of his own. Yuki terrified closed her eyes and everything was a blur to her from there on. All she remembered was that the man that attacked her mother was on the floor, inanimate. And her mother lying on the ground by her side, blood seeping into the cracks on the ground.

"It's been ten years since, my brother's death. I'll always remember. You grew wings and the wind started cutting. Slashing the flesh of everyone around. I was lucky that I got away before the wind sliced through me, but I suffered many injuries. Now I have learned some magic, and I'll avenge my brother. Tonight!" and he laughed the most aggravating laugh Yuki has ever heard.

He advanced from where he stood and Yuki was trapped between the balcony and him.

* * *

"Woop! That sure was easy. I even sent a notice," Dark said flying in the sky, finishing his "job."

"Although I feel that it was a little early for the job. The sun has just set too," his set the item down and quickly sealed it, then put it away in a little cavern that he made with magic, "Alright, that finishes that. Now, what should I do?"

Dark then remembered the hairpin, "I'm sure it's not that hard to find a princess. I just gotta look over there," he said to himself looking over at the castle, "Well, that settles it!" and he flew off towards the castle.

He circled the castle at least twice until he spotted a girl with hair like the princess', and she was out on the balcony. At that time, Dark was too far away to see what was happening, but then, as he flew a little more toward the balcony, he saw her attacker.

"Oh, time to be 'Prince Charming Dark'," and he flew towards the princess.

Just then in a blur of action, the masked man came flying at Dark, holding the Princess. Dark barely dodged him in the air. The masked man moved at amazing speed, but he looked as if he couldn't control it. Dark went after him, but he was sure hard to catch, zig zagging around in the sky just over the open sea.

"Geez, I've had enough of this!" Dark said and took out a feather.

He started to chant an incantation, and then lightning came out and struck the masked man. He himself was still in the air, but he has dropped the princess.

"Woah!" Dark exclaimed and swooped down and caught her just in time.

Yuki closed her eyes shut when the masked man was hit by lightning from the sky. She started falling and just when she was expecting contact with the freezing water she felt a pair of strong arms carry her up to the sky again. She looked up and saw the man from the park in the afternoon. The only thing was that he had black wings on his back.

She didn't scream, but she stared at him wide-eyed, not to mention that she was afraid of heights. She was really frozen in fear. He flew back up into the sky to be adjacent with the masked man, which was still recoiling from the lighting.

"Who the hell are you to ruin my plans?!" the yelled after recovering, but still holding his shoulder which was charred.

"Your plans? What kind of plans did you scheme? Trying to steal a princess. Who still does that? That's so old!" Dark yelled back at him, "I don't know what kind of hatred you started to breed in your heart, but stealing a princess this pretty is just wrong. Maybe if you go and steal an "uglier" princess, it might be fine, or a mean princess, but not one like Yuki-hime. Now before you hurt yourself get back down on the ground!"

"I refuse to let this happen!" and the masked man charged forward, but Dark just flapped his wings at him creating a gust of wind and knocked the man with turbulence. He started to spin towards the sea, but before he hit it Dark conjured up another spell that encircled him in black plasma like object and tied him up, then it turned into ropes.

Dark started making way back to the Princess' room. Once he landed Yuki almost jumped off him. At that time the masked man made his way back to her room still tied up floating around in Dark's magic. Then Yuki quickly ran the ball for help. Soon the guards were here.

"What's wrong Yuki-hime?" the captain asked barging into the room

"That masked man tried to kidnap me, then a man with black wings saved me from him, and he should be-," she said turning around to find Dark gone, "still…here…"

"Are you feeling all right, Hime? There's only the masked man. You must have been dreaming. Or maybe you saw Kaito Dark. Damn, that gut stole something from the Hall of artifacts. Anyways we'll take care of this matter. Please excuse us, Hime," and the Captain of the Guard left with his men, carrying the masked man that was unconscious.

Yuki stood there then went over to the glass doors and shut them locking them and pulling the curtains over. She turned off her lights and lighted a candle.

"At least now I'm able to sleep," she thought to herself and fell into sleep.

* * *

That was my second chapter. I hope that it's Ok. When I thought this in my head it was exciting, but after I read it, it seemed a little boring. Anyways here's a bonus…

NG:

"Your plans? What kind of plans did you scheme? Trying to steal a princess. Who still does that? That's so old!" Dark yelled back at him.

"Hey," Yuki yelled at him, "I'm still a princess here."

"Sorry, you can go back to being scared now," Dark said looking down at Yuki

"WHAT?"

"Hey, what am I? Chopped liver?" the masked man asked.

"No one's talking to you," Dark and Yuki yelled at him, in deep burning argument at the moment.


	3. Chapter 3

Three

"Onee-sama! Onee-sama!" Kyo cried running down the hall, "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? Did you see Kaito Dark? Was he cool?"

"K-Kyo, calm down. I'm just fine, and I'm not sure that was Kaito Dark," Yuki said, "And what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be studying?"

"Katsuo-sensei is not at the classroom yet, that means I get study time, which can be said as free time," Kyo said.

"Kyo-sama," his teacher said, infuriated by what he said, and fuming a dark aura that seemed to consume the poor prince, "What are you doing here?"

"I…I'm very sorry, Katsuo-sensei…. Haha," Kyo said under immense pressure, "I'll go back the room right now."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Kyo-sama," the teacher said and started dragging Kyo away, leaving Yuki standing in the hall.

"I'm so lucky I'm not the crown prince," Yuki admitted, "But I still have my own things to do." And she left to hall.

* * *

Dark woke up lying on his bed. Staring up at the ceiling. The light shining through the tiny window in his room, a tiny breeze started blowing in. Just like any ordinary day.

"Dark-kun!" Remu called from down the stairs, "I need your help!"

Forced to enter the day after he's just woke up, Dark moaned as he pulled himself from the bed. He went over to a chair near by and grabbed a shirt that was draped over it, "I'll be right down, Remu-san!"

He put the shirt on and went over to the bathroom and splashed the cold water into his face. He left the room ad started buttoning his shirt was he went down the stairs.

"Ah, finally you're here," Remu exclaimed as he came to the cafeteria.

"Good morning, Remu-san," Dark said quiet awake now.

"Good morning, Dark-kun. Now can you please bring all this food in? Thank you very much," Remu said with a sarcastic smile.

And once again Dark was forced to drag in all the sacks of food to the storage. And once again he was worn out from all the work that had to be done.

"Thank you very much, Dark-kun," Remu said serving him a bowl of hot aromatic stew, "This is my famous Remu-sama's Chicken and Potato Stew. Eat up."

"Thanks, Remu-san," Dark said and took a spoon and started to slurp the delicious broth.

Very soon he was done and left the inn to inspect his next target. After staying around that area for a couple of hours he decided to take a walk around the city.

"It's a pretty same kingdom," Dark said to himself, "It would do better as a gigantic city. Maybe it's the capital, and the real kingdom is much bigger than this."

"That would be wrong," a passerby, said, "You're the kid staying at Remu's inn."

"Yes, that would be me," Dark said, "Are you a friend of Remu-san?"

"Yeah, a long time ago, before she moved to that part of the kingdom," the old man said, "I know it seems kind of weird, how large or small this place seems, depending on how you look at it. But it really is a very tiny kingdom. It doesn't have any more states or cities, its just Rutile the Tiny Kingdom, but it's not lacking anything. She has her king, her land, and her people."

"I see. But why is it so small?"

"It's a little more convenient that way, don't you think? Rutile has no dukes or lords fighting over power. She has one family as the Royal Family. And she so small you can barely see her on a map, so she avoids wars altogether."

"That seems like Rutile has blockaded herself in this paradise."

"Yeah, but the people don't get restless and start riots. That's enough for an old man like me. Occasionally, we have people from other kingdoms come an assist us. The King's family has kept a treaty from Kanonoh just over the forest. I'm sure you've been to it, since you're traveling."

"Yeah, I've been there. It's a lot different than Rutile."

"Well, that place doesn't suit me very well. I heard that there were some thefts that happened there. They weren't even close to catching the criminal. We had a notice from then a few months ago, but we didn't pay much attention to it, because we never thought he'd come here too. Did you hear about last night? The police say it might be the same crook. Kaito Dark, that's what he call himself."

"I see, I see," Dark said, kind of proud that his name has spread.

"Anyways, send my regards to Remu, I'm Kiro. I'll try come see her every once and a while. See you some where else, young stranger," and the old man went on his way."

"So this place is actually a whole entire kingdom. No one would ever guess," Dark said to himself, then he put his hand into his pocket and something poked him.

He took out the hairpin, "I should return shouldn't I?" he said, amazed that it hasn't broke yet being in his pocket all this time.

* * *

"Are you alright, Yuki?" the king asked as he crept into his daughter's room.

He found her lying on her bed with only a thin sheet over her and the doors to her balcony wide opened.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the court right now to discuss about last night's theft?" Yuki asked not moving.

"I thought you were asleep."

"As if anyone would be asleep at this time of the day," the princess said sitting up from her bed and pulling the sheets up to her neck.

Her father went over to the glass doors and closed them. Yuki pulled up another layer of sheets, and another, until she finally decided to dump it reached for the comforter at the end of the bed.

"So, maybe later, one of the advisors will summon you to ask you questions about the other assaulter. You know the one that got away."

"Sure," Yuki said lying back down on her bed.

"Have you eaten anything yet?" the king asked walking over to her.

"Yeah, a sandwich," Yuki said without hesitation.

" Dear, it's the afternoon already. All you had was two slices of bread and a little filling? Go eat something already," Theodil-o said, "I don't want you to be getting sick anytime soon, understand."

"Yes, now please let me sleep," Yuki said drifting off into dreamland.

"Alright," the king said slipping out of the room and shut the door lightly.

After the door was closed, Yuki's thoughts rushing. Thoughts of the events last night. The man with wings, black wings. It frightened her, to even think about black wings. Suddenly her back began to sore, and once again the image of the man flashed in her mind. She shook the thoughts away.

"How can a man have wings? Or even use magic?" She thought to herself, "It's impossible."

* * *

"Alright time to catch the slug of a thief!" The Chief police said, "Everyone at their stations!"

The police started to spread out guarding the target.

"This is one of our kingdom's treasure," the Chief started. "It's our job to protect it! Understood?"

"Yes!" Many voices rose up at once.

"The time written on the notice was eight o'clock," the chief analyzed, "right now its ten till eight. He'll appear any minuet now."

All the police waited patiently. Silence loomed over the room as well as the ones guarding the entrance of the Halls.

"Chief," someone said, "It's now passed the initial time. What should we do?"

"I don't think someone like his would be late. Search the entire perimeter immediately!"

"Yes sir!" and all the police went and spread out throughout the entire building.

One of the police stayed at the grounds of the target.

"You're ages too early to even be thinking about catching me," Dark chuckled, taking off his hat and suit. "Alrighty, here we are. Madam," he said to the statue and lifted it from its sleeping place. And flew out the window leaving behind a black feather.

"Phew," Dark whistled after sealing the statue and putting it in the cavern, "Now that's done let's go visit the princess for a bit, shall we?" And he headed for the palace.

* * *

Yuki entered her room, just a little pissed. She took off her heavy coat and put it in her closet. And then started to wash her face getting ready to get back to sleep. That seems like all she has been doing. Sleeping. Well, that it until she was summoned by the police to be questioned about Dark, whom she doesn't know, yet. They kept asking her if she really saw wings on the man's back, as if they were making fun of her or making sure she was sane.

She went over to her desk, which was occupied by a jewelry case in the middle. She opened it, and put her hair clip inside. An empty spot among her hairpins caught her eye. She felt sullen. Then on a whim she slammed the lid down. She went over to her bed that was finally finished by the maid and sat on it. Her sullenness took a change to melancholy.

Just then, after sitting there looking at the floor there was a sound outside her balcony. Yuki raised her head surprised. She went over to the glass doors and opened one of them. Out on the balcony she looked around, searching for the source of the sound, then her eyes were captured by the glistening sea.

"Yo!" a stranger to her said poking his head above the wooden enclosure.

Yuki backed away, giving up to a little yelp. The stranger (and for those that haven't guessed it, it's Dark) jumped over the fence and landed in front of the "distressed" princess, smiling a quiet seductive smile.

"W-who are you?" Yuki asked backing away little by little.

"What you don't remember?" Dark asked leaning in, getting pretty close to Yuki's face.

The princess was quite speechless, actually trying her best to remember. Then she remembered the man with black wings.

"Ah!" she uttered.

"Finally, you remember. Took you long enough," Dark said backing away from her.

"You are the man with black wings!" Yuki said.

"Bingo!" Dark said.

"What are you doing here?" Yuki asked and "accidentally" skimmed her eyes over his entire body, and then blushed seeing as to how good his body looks in his tight leather clothing.

"Here," Dark said taking out the hairpin and offering it to Yuki, "You lost this didn't you?"

Yuki took the hairpin and looked at it for a very long time, then clutched it very tightly. She lowered her head as if she was starting to cry.

"Thank you," she said reluctantly and turned around to put the hairpin on a coffee table close by.

"No problem," Dark said sitting on the wooded fence and looking into Yuki's bedroom.

"Now go away," Yuki turning to Dark with a serious face.

"Hey, let's make a deal, although my half's already gone, but," Dark said and thought on it a little and started again, "For the price of returning your hairpin let me stay here without being caught for just this night."

"What? You really are Kaito Dark, aren't you?" Yuki said.

"Oh, so you've heard of me! I'm so happy!" Dark said, "It's really an honor that a princess like you would now my name."

"It's not like no one else knows your name. The whole kingdom knows it, and the kingdom behind the forest and the next one and the next one."

"But not every princess cares," Dark said smiling an appealing smile.

"It's not like I care," Yuki said, "now go away before I run out of patience and call the—hey!" Yuki yelled at Dark who has entered the room and snatched the hairpin from the desk. "Give it back!"

"Ok, ok, Hime-san!" Dark said holding the pin way above Yuki's reach, "I'll strike another bargain with you. Will stop jumping and listen to me?"

"Fine, what?" Yuki said giving up and sat on her bed.

"In exchange for this beautifully crafted accessory," Dark proposed holding the pin in front of him spinning it, "You'll let me stay here for the night without calling the police. Do we have an accord?"

"Fine," Yuki said and took the hairpin. She walked over to the jewelry box and stuck in the hairpin at its rightful place.

"I take it, that hairpin is really special," Dark said standing right behind Yuki, looking over her shoulder.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" Yuki exclaimed after recovering from a little shudder from being surprised by Dark.

"Anyways," Dark said turning around, ignoring her completely, "You are Yuki-hime, are you not?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I've heard many rumors about you since I got here just two days ago."

"So? Your point is?"

"They weren't very good rumors. Many of them were on how 'cold' you are."

"That's just what they see from their perspective. Anyways, I don't really care about the rumors anymore."

"Well, you're letting your people down. They want a princess that smiles more."

Yuki stayed silent. Dark went over to a chair and sat on it.

"I know it's not because you are really mean or anything like that," Dark said crossing his arms and closing his eyes. "It's something emotional. Isn't it?"

"It's…none of your business," Yuki said and walked over to her bed, for some reason she feels comfortable with this stranger. "Talk about something else."

"Fine," Dark said and they started a conversation.

They talked until about ten.

"Now go away. I'm going to sleep," Yuki said.

"But it's only ten, Hime-san," Dark whined, he kind of enjoyed talking to her.

"I don't care, and don't call me Hime-san like it's my name," Yuki said climbing into her bed.

"Well, then I'll be going now," said Dark.

"Good riddance," Yuki said.

"That's not a very nice thing for a princess to say," Dark said stopping at the glass doors.

"Whatever, just go away now," Yuki said pulling up her comforter, "And close the doors while you're at it. It's cold."

"Alright, alright. Don't need to get bossy," Dark said, "Good night, Hime-san."

"Don't call me Hime-san."

Dark smiled and closed the doors, then flew away.

* * *

Okay the next few chapters are going to be coming pretty quickly, because I want one of the chapters to come out on Christmas. So prepare for a lot of reading. 


	4. Chapter 4

Four

Yuki woke up early than she normally does. She sat up on her bed and reached for her ceiling. After stretching she washed her face, then brushed her teeth. Then as she was dabbing her face with a towel she remembered about last night and Dark.

"Was that all a dream?" she thought to herself, "It must be all just a dream."

She wondered around the room, and found no trace of another person in the room. She finally believed that Kaito Dark appearing in the middle of the night was just a dream until she opened the doors of the balcony and found a black feather sitting right in front of her as if saying: You guessed wrong!

Yuki picked up the feather and just looked at it. It was much larger than a raven's or a crow's so it had to be an angel's. Yuki returned into the room and put the feather in the top drawer of her reading desk next to her bedside.

"Damn," she thought to herself.

* * *

"Dark-kun!" Remu called from the counter of the cafeteria, "Are you going to go out again tonight to find a part time job?"

"Actually, I'm not!" Dark called back from the storage room, "But I am going out again."

"For what?" Remu asked, "Oh, I know. You found yourself a girlfriend, didn't you? A young man that looks as good as you would probably get mobbed by a group of girls."

"Well, she's not exactly a girlfriend, just a friend as of now. She does have some good points, and she's pretty cute."

"Well, go out and have fun now," Remu said as Dark walked out of the storage room.

"See you later then, Remu-san," and Dark ran out the inn.

"Geez, young people."

* * *

"Onee-sama!" Kyo called from the hall.

"Kyo, are you done with your work? Katsuo-sensei won't be happy if you aren't," Yuki said as she was heading into her room.

"Don't worry. I'm done with all of it. Finally. Katsuo-sensei left already," Kyo said really proud of himself for finishing all his studies for today, which happens on rare occasions.

"Alright, now go to bed. Tomorrow you still have work to do," Yuki said and walked into her room.

She sighed. She went to her closet and changed into a warm nightgown and then wrapped herself in another layer of clothing. Then she washed her face. Then she went out onto her balcony. There was a nice cross breeze at the time. Yuki undid her hair and let it the wind carry it. Then she was pulled back into reality by the sound of fluttering of wings.

Yuki walked over to the left of her balcony and checked around it, then to the right. She felt just a little secure, and to be safe, she leaned over the side to see it he was there. Just as she was feeling very reassured, her worst nightmare appeared.

"You looking for me, Hime-san," Dark said, "Up here."

Yuki looked up to see Dark sitting on the little roof over her glass doors. Suddenly he jumped down from it and landed right in front of the princess.

"Didn't know I left such a good impression," Dark said.

"Defiantly not," Yuki said losing her posture as a princess and looked like a little girl in a rebellious stage.

"Then why were you looking for me? Did you miss me that much?" Dark teased.

"No!" Yuki said regaining her posture, "Why are you here anyways?"

"The truth is," Dark said leaning in on Yuki again and took a little of her hair and played with it, "I missed you."

Yuki blushed and then pushed him off of her, "Don't touch me like that! Princess here! Be respectful even if it's just a little!"

"Alright, alright," Dark laughed, "But I really did miss you."

"Enough with that. Now go away before I call on someone," Yuki threatened.

"I don't think you will," Dark said sitting on the table next to her.

Yuki moved to the other side of the balcony, "Why do you think that?"

"Because if you are, you would have done that already," Dark said, "So I did leave a good impression."

"Like I said you didn't," Yuki said losing her bearing again and blushed, "What do you want anyways?"

"Just to talk to someone sensible," Dark said walking towards her, "All the other girls just faint all over me once I talk to them. It really is no fun at all. That's why I like you so much better than them."

"Is that supposed to be a complement?" Yuki asked.

"Somewhat," Dark said, "But you really are the first girl that hasn't done that."

"Please don't compare me to people that don't know what they want."

"Actually, you're the one that doesn't know what you want, isn't it?" Dark said.

"What did you say?" Yuki yelled at Dark, cross.

"In your heart you really want to do something, but you don't know what it is, right?"

"I-," Yuki flustered.

"Never mind," Dark said, "By the way, Hime-san-"

"Don't call me Hime-san like it's my name," Yuki said.

"But Hime-san is cuter than Hime-sama," Dark explained to her, "and call you by name is just to modest of such a commoner like myself."

"Then call me Yuki-hime!"

"But putting them both together just makes the explanation longer," Dark said clearly teasing her.

"Mah! Whatever, I can't handle arguing with you anymore," Yuki said and went into her room.

"Does that mean I win the debate?" Dark asked following her.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that you can come in to my room! I mean no! Gah! I'm losing my mind!"

Dark laughed and then came close to her and took her hand.

"Hime-san, you now what?" Dark asked turning the princess around a looked into her eyes, "You," and he came close to her ears and whispered, "Are really… cute."

With that Yuki blushed like mad and was speechless for a while.

"Stop that!" she yelled and slipped out of his grasp.

Dark held tight to her hand, "That wasn't really the reaction that I'd expected, but that's fine."

Dark took her hand and lightly kissed it. Yuki flushed but stayed motionless. Many men had kissed her hand, but she'd never felt this way toward anyone. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Yuki went to open it.

"Yuki, my dear," the king said at the door, "I heard some shouting going on in here.

"Ah," Yuki stuttered as the king let himself in.

Yuki panicked, if her father found Dark in the room with her, what would he think?! She turned around and found the room empty and no sight of the presence of Dark.

"Yuki," Theodil said and closed the glass doors, "Please keep these doors closed. You'll catch a cold."

"Yes," Yuki said and sneezed.

"Oh dear," the king said and called on one of the maids, "You'd better go and see the doctor. Come with me to the infirmary."

Yuki followed the king out of her room and to the doctor of the palace. She looked back and saw just a glimpse of a pair of black wings that glistened blue under the moonlight.

* * *

"Onee-sama!" Kyo called running into her room, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thank you for your concern, Kyo," Yuki said sitting on her bed with many layers of clothing on and under a gigantic comforter.

"Oh, please get well soon. You promised that you'd take me to the park one of these days. You can't be sick or you won't be able to do that!"

"Yes, yes, yes, Kyo. I understand how much you want to go outside. But you'll have to let me rest if you want me to get well. And you need to finish all your studies if you want to go. So now go before Katsuo-sensei gets here and scolds you!" Yuki said quite sternly.

"But-" Kyo said.

"No buts," the princess said to her younger brother.

"Alright," Kyo said and exited the room.

He turned around and found himself facing his very enemy.

"Se-sensei," Kyo stuttered.

"Kyo-ojisama," the old man said leaning down so that he's eye level with the prince, "I know you concern for your elder sister, but now it is time to put the kingdom under concern."

"Yes, I understand," Kyo said and once again he was dragged off to do work.

Yuki slumped back into bed; her face was well enough flushed to last a lifetime. Unable to sleep she went over to her bathroom and filled the tub with warm water to the rim. She soaked her body into the water, trying to lower her body temperature to equal that of the water. Steam slowly rose up and the mirror fogged up, but it was still not enough to make the fever go away. Yuki got out of the bathroom and changed into something even warmer. Then fell into sleep on her bed.

It was very rare that she would catch a cold accompanied by a fever. From the very bottom of her heart she wished that Dark would not appear on her balcony tonight. But then she just tumbled into sleep.

"Oh finally wake are we?" her father said sitting by her bedside.

"What time is it?" Yuki asked.

"Right now it's about five minutes until seven. Do you want something to eat?"

"That would be nice," Yuki said finally realizing how hungry she was.

"Alright I'll call up some porridge for you, is that alright?"

"If it doesn't make my stomach churn," Yuki said.

"Alright then," her father said, "Well I need to get back. I've been here too long, my advisors will scold me if I stay here any longer. Good night. And don't open the doors to the balcony."

"I won't," Yuki said and the king left the room.

A few minutes later one of the maids came up to her room.

"Begging you pardon, Hime-sama," she said opening the door, "here's you porridge. I do hope that you'll get better soon."

"Thank you. You may go now. I don't want you to catch a cold from me," Yuki said taking the hot bowl.

"Thank you, please excuse me," and the maid left.

Yuki quickly finished her tiny meal and sank back into bed. She was a little dizzy from sitting up and was slowly going back into dreamland. She looked out the balcony. But black wings never appeared.

"Thank God," Yuki said and fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Five

Dark was walking through the clearing in the forest on the outskirts of Rutile. He'd just stowed away his new collection of thefts. He was carrying a bag.

"Let's see?" Dark said scrolling his eyes around the city that sits under him and the precipice he's standing on, "Oh, I haven't been there in a while."

And thus he flew toward the castle. He circled it twice until he came up to the balcony of Yuki's room. The doors were closed but the curtains were wide opened exposing the room. He landed on the balcony softly and peeked in. There was a maid standing next to the large bed. Then a little time passed and she was rushing around the room, then at the end she handed Yuki a jacket and left the room. Yuki put the jacket on and buried herself in the covers.

Yuki shifted around a lot just after getting in the comforter. She felt uncomfortable in almost every position. Her face was rosy red and everything seemed to spin a little. Then, with a sigh, she decided to just sleep facing the ceiling.

"Yo, Hime-san," Dark said popping right on top of her.

"Ah," Yuki yelped and choked.

"Ah, sorry, sorry," Dark apologized backing off, sitting on the bed.

Yuki was coughing rather badly. Her voice was getting hoarse when she stopped coughing. She sat up on her bed and put her hand on her chest, trying to calm down.

"Sorry about that," Dark said, "You alright now?"

"Geez," Yuki said to him, but her breathing made it sound like just a whisper "Don't come into other people's rooms without permission. Although since you're a thief you wouldn't know that very well."

"Hey, hey, hey," Dark said crossing his arms, "It's not like I like to steal things. It's my job. I'd prefer to live a nice peaceful life with an occasional daring-ness every once and awhile. But, then if I did have that kind of life, I wouldn't meet you. So I better be thankful."

"How come being a thief is your job? Can't you pick another one?" Yuki said calming down.

"Not really. Never mind about that. So, how come you haven't threatened to call someone yet?

"I figured even if I do call on someone, and you'd just come the next day," Yuki said and started to get off the bed.

Then Dark grabbed her arm not letting her off the bed.

"Actually, I came here for medical reasons tonight," Dark said, "Come, sit."

"Huh?" Yuki uttered shaking Dark's hand off and submitting to his order and sat back down on the bed.

As soon as she hauled the heavy comforter on herself, Dark put his hand on her forehead, feeling her temperature.

"Hey, how long did you have this fever, Hime-san?"

"Four days," Yuki said taking Dark's hand off of her head becoming dizzy.

"Seriously? With this temperature?" Dark exclaimed.

"I thought the rumors would be out already," Yuki said getting weary.

"Yeah, but rumors are never accurate. Maybe my hand's just cold from flying through the cold air. Should I try with my forehead?" Dark asked with a teasing voice, coming exceedingly close to Yuki's flushed face.

Yuki didn't react in any curtain way, but stayed still. Dark stayed quiet, pushing his brow on hers without her consent. The two stayed hushed. All that can be heard between the two was Yuki's pressured breathing. Yuki closed her eyes.

"Hey, Hime-san," Dark said with almost a whisper.

"What?" Yuki whispered with a subtle voice that seemed almost like only just a mutter.

"I kinda want this to last forever," Dark said without thinking.

"What?" Yuki asked with a more audible voice, surprised at what Dark said.

"Well," Dark said removing his head from hers, "I came today with a present." And he reached into his back and took out a bottle. "I brought Hot Cocoa."

"If it's hot cocoa, I could have had the palace servants prepare two servings," Yuki said unimpressed.

"But," Dark said, "as you can see 'Hot Cocoa' is capitalized!"

"What?" Yuki said, "What does that have to do with anythi--"

"I promise mine will taste better, I learned from the best of the best," Dark interrupted her and took a teacup from Yuki's coffee table and poured the luscious hot beverage into the cup and handed it to Yuki. Then took another and poured himself one.

"Remu-san," Dark started, "Oh Remu-san is an old lady that's letting me freeload at her inn, although she gets angry if you call her old. She taught me how to make Hot Cocoa."

Yuki listened to Dark's chitchat and sipped the steaming liquid.

"So how is it?" Dark asked, "It's the first one that I've made."

"It's," Yuki started, "good."

"Right?"

"It might be better than the one here," Yuki admitted it, "How did you make it?"

"Well, there's no secret ingredient in it, probably," Dark said, "You want to know the real secret?"

"What is it?"

"It's the attitude when you make it," Dark said.

Yuki looked at him looking confused, but she was listening rather contently.

"When I heard that you were sick I asked Remu-san how to make Hot Cocoa. While she was showing me, while she was teaching me, and while I was making it for the first time, I thought: I'm making this for the princess of Rutile. For a friend. So it better be good. I'm going to try my best. Or something around those lines," Dark said.

Yuki listened to him talked. She looked after him sitting on the far side of her bed looking out the open doors of the balcony. She looked at his back and she thought about his wings. Then she sipped the cocoa pulling her back into reality.

"Hey, Hime-san," Dark said looked back at her, "were you listening?"

"Yes. You were talking about the attitude of making things and how they will affect people," Yuki said to confirm that she was listening and not really thinking about his back.

"Wow, you were really listening to me?" Dark asked quiet pleased.

"Yes," Yuki said, "Is it not a princess' job to listen to her people?"

"Haha, I guess it." Dark said and started teasing Yuki and placed his hand on her rosy cheek, "Or you can just stand there and stare at me all day long."

"No thank you," Yuki declined pushing Dark's hand away.

"Hime-san, you're really cute in any way possible," Dark said and laughed.

"And you are subtle in every way possible," Yuki said sarcastically.

"Haha, thank you."

"Not a compliment," Yuki said and drank the rest of the contents in her cup before it became cold.

"Seconds?" Dark offered.

"Thank you," Yuki said and handed him her cup and he filled it to the rim.

"Hime-san?"

"I thought I told you not to called me that," Yuki said and sipped the chocolate.

"Yeah, yeah," Dark said completely ignoring her. "Does this mean I can come here from now on?"

Yuki thought on it for a second, "Fine."

"Real--"

"But!" Yuki said before he can continue, "there is just one condition!"

"Name it!" Dark said, actually almost yelled.

"You must cut that hair of yours!" Yuki said with intensity as if she had no fever to begin with.

"What?" Dark said kind of confused, "What's wrong with my hair?"

"What's wrong with it? It sticks out everywhere, that's what's…wrong…" Yuki said losing her momentum at the end due to the fever and suddenly standing on her bed made her dizzy.

"But, but," Dark whined, "This is the way God made me. I'm not going to change it. Plus, if I cut my hair I'll look completely normal and that won't catch the girls' eyes."

Yuki tried to keep her momentum going, but just ended up losing it all and kind of fainted.

"Ah, Hime-san!" Dark called and caught her before she fell on the ground. "Hime-san, you alright?"

Yuki's breathing became heavy again. Dark laid her back on the bed and pulled her covers up to her chin.

"You know what?" Dark asked kneeling by her bed and rested his chin in crossed arms leaning on her bed.

"What?"

"You look cute completely helpless too."

"Quiet," Yuki managed to say audibly.

"Well, let's see if my Magic Hot Cocoa helped, okay? Go to sleep now," Dark said smiling and patted Yuki's head.

She didn't push it away, but just let him put his hand on her forehead. Her temperature was just a little lower than before.

"Good night," Yuki said falling into sleep and unaware of what she just said.

"Night, Hime-san," Dark said and turned off the new lights of her room and left the room. Outside he carefully closed the doors and locked it with magic. And finally he took wing in the night sky.

* * *

In the morning as the light was shining in Yuki's room and the birds outside were singing in the trees under the balcony and the dew was still fresh on the grass the princess woke up. She put her hand on her brow. Then she climbed out of bed and opened all her windows letting in the fresh air. Then he unlocked the glass doors and watched the sun climb its ladder.

She watched the foam glide over the water of the sea. She turned her head to see the people start to start their day again. Her hair blew in the quiet breeze. At first it seemed like time was still. Then she watched the world around her start to brighten and move on.

"No way," she muttered and felt her forehead again.

"How is that possible?" the doctor asked himself in awe. "It can't be possible. She temperature was forty degrees Celsius yesterday night. How can it be gone in one night? And a night so cold too."

"Well, for one, I don't really care how it happened. I'm just glad that it did," the King said.

"So Onee-sama," Kyo said, "how'd you do it?"

"You really want to know?" Yuki asked him with a smile, "It's magic."

* * *

**Character and Author Talk show Extra:**

**Mokona:** Okay, well I personally liked this chapter, but I was wondering if you didn't get the joke about the Hot Cocoa being capitalized. Well, if you didn't it's a pun. Well, sort of. It's like the characters in the story are actually writing this instead of me, and Dark capitalized Hot Cocoa meaning that it's a title instead of just a beverage.

**Dark:** Of course, of course, my Hot Cocoa is the best. To tell you the truth I added just a little bit of magic in there.

**Yuki:** So that's how it really happened. Now my joke with Kyo isn't a joke anymore. Damn, you're sly.

**Dark: **Thank you, Hime-san.

**Yuki: ** Not a compliment. Anyways, why did I have to be the one to break the record of the longest fever ever, Mokona?"

**Mokona:** Because you look cute when you're completely helpless.

**Dark:** See, see. It's the truth. Mokona agrees with me.

**Yuki:** That's only because she's writing this thing.

**Mokona:** Well that's also because I don't want Dark to visit you every single day. That would make him obsessed with you.

**Yuki:** I see, I see. That would be most unpleasant, wouldn't it? I get it. Mokona's so thoughtful.

**Mokona:** No that's-

**Dark:**Hey, I thought you liked my company!

**Yuki:** Only those girls that gaze at you walking through the streets would. Don't associate me with people like that have no principles.

**Mokona:** Yuki-hime, don't you think that's a little cruel?

**Yuki:** Yes, I pity those girls.

**Mokona:**No. No. You've got it all wrong.

**Dark:**Well, that's why I like her better.

**Yuki:** Was that supposed to be a compliment?

**Mokona:** Well, it seems like we're out of time today. Please tune in to read the next chapter premiering on Christmas. (Turning to Yuki and Dark who are now arguing) Hey, guys…

**All together:** Bye bye.

**Dark:** Yuki you have to smile. Smile like a princess.

**Yuki:** This is smiling, and I'm a princess. Thus making this "smiling like a princess."

(Image starts to fade as well as voices)

**Dark:**No. Bigger. Bigger.

**Mokona:**Don't bicker, you guys.

(Image and voice disappear, black out.)


	6. Chapter 6

Six

Yuki looked at the calendar again to make sure she wasn't mistaken. She put the calendar down and took another one looking at the same day. Now she was sure. She was very sure of the day after that comes after today.

"Hime-sama," one of the maids called from the entry of the library Yuki was at, "Theodil-o seeks your presence at the dinning hall."

"I'm coming," Yuki said to the maidservant then muttered under her breath, "There's no escaping from it this year either then."

Yuki walked down the torched lit halls, then the newly renovated halls with the new electric light all with the maidservant ushering her. When the two reached the west door of the dinner room the maid left and the doors opened for Yuki.

"Yuki," her father started at the end of the table, but then Yuki raised her hand and interrupted him.

"Is it going to be a ball again?" She asked.

"N-no," the King said. "It's actually a dance party."

"Is there a difference between the two?" Yuki asked sitting on the other side of the long table.

"Actually there is. At a ball, only certain invited people are allowed. But at a dance party anyone can come."

"Do you really think that's safe?" Yuki asked half-heartedly.

"Well, I'll be sure to tighten the security that night. I'm sure the people would love the event and to see there princess up close for once."

"Fine, since you're the king I'll have to follow orders, but," Yuki exclaimed at the end, "I will have no body guards watching my every move!"

"I'll make that accommodation right after this meeting," Theodil-o said.

"So you've already planned the body guards, eh? I bet you've already picked them out personally also."

"Yes, but I haven't sent out the order yet. But don't think that I'll let you just wander around without a body guard all the time."

"Then that just ruins the whole plan of not having a body guard."

"I'm just worried about you, Yuki. The dance party will have maybe the whole kingdom there, from the children to the elderly, and there's that thief to consider. What if he's not just stealing artifacts? And there might be kidnappers and assassins there also."

"I have no worries," Yuki said, "I don't believe any attacks that night anyways."

"Why do you say that? How do you know nothing will happen?"

"I have a gut feeling," Yuki said.

"Fine, then you'll have a body guard at the beginning, we will have people watching over you, but they won't be in sight. I'll leave you alone for the party, but you are to come back to the stage at midnight and then I'll let you do whatever you want."

"That just sounds like me at the party without any bodyguard the whole entire time."

"No, I'll make an arrangement to have then undercover. They'll be pros, meaning that the keep there distance. Are you good with that?"

"Fine, but do I have to dance with everyone?"

"No, just nobles."

"That's what I meant by everyone. Do you really expect every person there to know how to dance different kinds of dances and waltzes?"

"I'm sure if there's a certain person that you are comfortable with, if that's the case you should spend all the time with him and not let the nobles have a chance to even think about it."

"What?"

"As your father I can tell when you're thinking about a certain someone. So who's the lucky man?"

"There is no one in mind," Yuki said blushing at the embarrassing words her father said, "You're a king, father, please try and act like one."

"Fine, fine. I will, only in front of people anyways. Well, that's all. I don't think you're a princess that falls in love with commoners. You think through everything. But, if that is the case you'll have to prepare yourself for the future. I'm not trying to scare you or anything, it's just a warning, alright?" and with this the King left to go to court for the afternoon. After the doors closed, Yuki still sat at the table.

"I know that," she muttered to herself, "It's just impossible to make him disappear even if I tried."

* * *

"Dark-kun, Dark-kun," Remu called from the empty cafeteria. 

"What is it, Remu-san?" Dark asked come down from the hall of empty rooms.

"I have news, there's good and slightly good. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"The… good," Dark answered, thinking to himself that the slightly good is probably going to be bad.

"The good news is that there's going to be a dance party for the princess and Christmas."

"Both occasions for one party?"

"Well, since you're still 'new' here you wouldn't know. The princess' birthday collides with Christmas."

"Remu-san, you could of just said that they are on the same day, wouldn't that be easier?"

"Anyways, I'm just telling you that for your information. Now on to the slightly good news! I'm planning on selling this inn."

"What? Why would you do that?"

"This kingdom doesn't have many people that goes through it. I won't be able to live here, it's just too big, and it doesn't make much profit since Rutile doesn't get many visitors or travelers at all. Plus, I've been thinking about it for many years now, I've finally came to a decision."

"Well, it's your inn so I guess--" Dark started but then Remu interrupted.

"Now I'll start anew!"

"What?"

"I'm planning on buying the little shop down the street with the money from the inn. I'm going to open a café!"

"R-really? What about living quarters?"

"I knew you were going to ask that, for your own sake, right?" Remu said reading Dark's mind perfectly.

"Well, yes," Dark admitted.

"I've already seen the building. It was originally a tiny apartment, but because of no business, I went out of business. On the second floor it has enough bed rooms, and the whole thing has the new gas stoves and plumbing already."

"So basically you have the whole thing planned out and didn't bother to tell me until now, eh?"

"Of course. Why would I tell you of all people? You're just a lazy free-loader."

"That's cruel, Remu-san--"

"That's also the reason, why I'm opening it as a café. I won't need employees."

"What?"

"I've always been praised for have amazing cooking. I've even been called a genius, and prodigy, at my hometown. I have nice baking skills too and have many personal recipes."

"Yes, I get that part of the plan, but where's the part I come in?"

"About that part," Remu said with a smirk like grin, "I'm going to put you to good use.

"Hah?"

"Dark-kun," Remu started, "You are an idol among the young girls are you not?"

"Well, yes."

"You are well fit for vigorous work, right?"

"I guess, I've dragging in those sacks of food for you everyday."

"Then I'm going to use to my café's advantage, understand? Dark-kun from the day I open my café, you are a waiter."

"A waiter? Me?"

"Yes, and for all the work you do you get lodging for free. That fixes your freeloading business."

"But how's waiting on costumers a vigorous job?"

"You see, my Dark-kun that's not very sharp at stuff like this. If you are a waiter, then we are to expect many young girls to come into the café to order something. What that number is, nobody knows. You'll probably going to have to run around everywhere for awhile."

"I see," Dark said, "So you do have every little aspect of this 'great café plan' planned out didn't you, Remu-san. "

"Every little detail."

"I see. So then what do you plan on calling this café?"

"The Angels' Café. It's catchy isn't it?"

"Angels' Café, huh? It's a pretty cute name."

* * *

'Planning for this party is such a bother,' Yuki thought to herself looking over her balcony, 'of all days that I had to be born it had to be Christmas. And there's a ball every year for that reason, except this year. This year's a party. That's even for troublesome. Not just to nobles, but the whole kingdom. No, wait! Maybe because of the commoners the nobles won't come. And because the capital, or castle in our case, is in the center of the kingdom, not the whole kingdom's going to be there, only the places around it." 

"I should stop thinking about the party," Yuki said to herself stretching from the position she was in for a while now, "If I worry about, I'll have wrinkles by the time I'm twenty."

Yuki walked to her bed and sat on it, "I wonder if Dark will come today?"

Yuki lay down on her bed and stared at the clock. "I guess he's not coming. He hasn't since my fever a few days ago. I wonder if he left Rutile. No, that's not a possibility, there are still thefts going around and he hasn't been caught yet. What's he doing?"

"Onee-sama?" Kyo knocked at the door.

"Come in Kyo," Yuki said sitting up.

"I heard we're having a party this year."

"Yeah." Yuki said. "Hey, Kyo, promise me one thing."

"What?"

"When I have a granddaughter from you, if I have one, never plan exclusive parties for her every year unless she wants to, understand? I don't want them to share the same troublesomeness as me."

"Alright, I promise."

"Anyways, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I don't have any studying to do because of tomorrow. So I have nothing to do as of now."

"That doesn't really answer my question, but…"

"I want to know what dress you are going to wear tomorrow. I want to match Onee-sama."

"Really?"

"No. You wanted a reason so I gave you one."

"Well, I haven't really thought about it yet, and I don't want to right now. That reminds me don't we have three sets of clothing that mother ordered made for us before she died, one for every year? I wonder if they fit."

"Let's go see," Kyo said and left the room. A little later he came back. "Only the white and silver one fits. Man, our mother's one keen person. I wonder why she went through all the trouble to make them before she died? For some reason, this doesn't make any sense at all."

"Anyways, the white and silver one, right?" Yuki confirmed walking to her closet. And ruffled through her hanging clothing. She came up to a chest. She opened the unlocked chest and dug through the many layers of clothing until coming up to white fabric. She took out the outfit and shook it a little to get the wrinkles out. She changed into it and came back out.

"How does it look?" she asked Kyo.

"You look very pretty, Onee-sama," Kyo said after eying her up and down, "I'm sure every single man there will fall in love with you at first sight."

"That would be very inconvenient. Anyways now that we have that down, go to your room and get some sleep!"

"Yes," and thus Kyo left.

Yuki stood in the room and looked at herself in the full-length mirror in her closet.

"Geez," she said, "You even guessed the cup size right."

Yuki quickly took off the dress and changed into her sleeping garments. She turned off her lights and went to sleep waiting for tomorrow.

DAY OF…

…. THE DREADED DANCE PARTY….

"Now I would like to announce the dance party now open to the public!" Theodil-o announced over the giant crowd of people. "Today is the day of Christmas and my daughter's birthday! It is my pleasure blah blah blah," the king went on about the dancy party, "Now, I would like to ask Yuki-hime to say a few words." And he gave to stage to Yuki.

The crowd gave a forever echoing, "Oooo," as Yuki stepped up and the lights shine right above her. Her beauty was as bright as the sparkling stars above.

"I would like to thank you all for coming. Everyone here is dressed so beautifully. The colors are just gorgeous. I would like to specially thank me younger brother, Kyo-oji," Yuki said and gestured at Kyo to come over to her, "for the coordination of the Christmas tree." Kyo came over to stand next to her, and crowd was once again filled with awe. "Now with no further adieu, please start the party."

Kyo and Yuki left the stage. The people started mingling. The orchestra started playing. And to Yuki's luck there were only a few nobles headed her way.

"Onee-sama," Kyo said, "Thank you."

"For what?" Yuki asked.

"For showing off our outfits, how'd you know I wanted to show them off?"

"That's because I'm your sister. It's my job to know what you're thinking," Yuki said patting Kyo's hair.

"Really?" Kyo said tugging Yuki's hand off of his head, "Well, I'm going to leave you now."

"What?" Yuki questioned, but Kyo had already run away.

Just then a noble family's head made his way over to Yuki with his son by him. Yuki turned around and thought to herself, "Ah, Kyo, you little dastard. Running away like that and leaving me behind." But then she had regain her posture since the noble was already right next to her.

"Ah, Noble Fudaku. It's nice to see you here," Yuki greeted with a smile.

"Yes, it is nice. I believe you've met my son before," the nobleman said indicating his son.

"Yes, I have met him once before. Pleased to meet you again Samulu-sama."

"Y-yeah," the noble's son replied, blushing.

"Watch you manner's Samulu," his father scolded at him. "Please excuse him, he has a very weak mind. It easily succumbs. Well, then please excuse us for the night."

"Very well," Yuki and they left. Soon just a few nobles started taking with Yuki. Although there conversations were never very long, Yuki didn't like they way that she was forced to speak. Plus, Kyo was not insight of any one of the nobles, except this one time when he was "caught" by one. Luckily he didn't mind being with the old lady. Then the dancing started. Yuki stood alone on the side watching the commoners' dance with each other, only a few brave enough dared to ask the future nobles. But Yuki stood alone, not even the young nobles dared to dance with her.

"Hey, Hime-san," Dark's voice came from behind her.

Yuki's heart almost skipped a beat while she turned around to meet Dark wearing a suit. "D-Dark," Yuki stuttered from being surprised.

* * *

**Mokona: And this is it for chapter six! I know it's a freakin' cliffhanger, but just wait for Christmas like you have for the whole year. ****Oh, by the way, that Angel's Café isn't a sports café. In Japanese it would be called Tenshi no Café. That's just for you info**** Well, anyways in exchange for this chapter's emptiness in emotions and comedy, I have come with a preview!!!**

**Kyo: Oh, Mokona-san can I do it?**

**Mokona: Only if you call me, Mokona-sama.**

**Kyo: Mokona-sama, May I?**

**Mokona: All right, here's the script. (Hands paper over to Kyo)**

**Kyo: (Puts on headphones and reads script) whispering Mokona-sama, what's this word, here?**

**Mokona: That's you sister's name (said with very blunt expression).**

**Kyo: Oh (noticed his idiotic mistake) Ahem… Now then, the next chapter will premier on Christmas Day. In the midst of the Dance Party, Dark steals Onee-sama away secretly. Will this start their love-love days? Ehhh!? What's this Dark steal's Onee-sama's first kiss?! What the heck is the next chapter?!**

**Mokona: (stealing Kyo's headphones and putting it on oneself to save the preview) Well, then for more information come to on Christmas…. (takes headphones off)Whew Kyo what was with that!**

**Kyo: I'm sorry, I got carried away with the kissing part…**

**Mokona: As a punishment I'm not going to write the chapter what features you.**

**Kyo: What?! WHY?  
**

**Mokona: Well then, then everyone please tune in next time.**

**Kyo: Hey, don't ignore me! **


	7. Chapter 7

Seven

A.N.: Let's see we left off with Yuki meeting Dark at the dance party…

* * *

"Dark!" Yuki exclaimed, but Dark quickly rushed to cover Yuki's mouth.

"Shhhh," Dark hushed. "Please don't say my name so loudly."

"I'm sorry," Yuki apologized, "So what are you doing here?"

"Partying. What else?"

"Oh, this thing is open to the public," Yuki remembered. "So that means I can't really get rid of you here."

"What? Didn't you miss me even one bit?" Dark asked, leaning in.

"Well," Yuki stuttered, "Just a little bit."

"Really? You really did miss me?"

"So what were you doing all this time? Please don't tell me your planning on stealing something tonight, or is you have already."

"What are you jealous?"

"No," Yuki said quiet bluntly.

"Right," Dark said teasing the princess, "Anyways I was moving to a new place."

"Moving, as in a change of address?" Yuki asked confused.

"Yeah, what other moving would I be talking about?"

"I just never considered the fact that you had an accommodation."

"Just because I'm a thief part time, doesn't mean that I don't have a place to place my head and to shelter me from the rain."

"So, where do you live now?"

"Why do you ask?" Dark asked starting to tease her again. "Or should I ask: Are you planning to visit me?"

"Just tell me were you live!"

"The Angel's Café, it's going to open after the new year starts. I'm working there part time, it' also acts as my dorm."

"You really told me? What if I rat you out?"

"One, you won't do that. Two, even if you do there won't be any evidence there that proves that I've stolen anything."

"Fine," Yuki said.

"Hime-san," Dark said and leaned in on her, "You're very pretty tonight."

Yuki blushed, surprised, as usual. Then, suddenly Dark grabbed Yuki's hand and dragged her into the open near the bon fire in the middle.

"What are you doing?" Yuki asked him.

"Dancing with a pretty girl, of course," Dark said and put his left hand on her waist and curved his right hand's fingers over hers.

Yuki reluctantly put her right hand on his arm, "I never knew you knew how to dance."

"That's irreverent to this," Dark said and smiled, "Just enjoy this time won't you, Hime-san?"

"Don't call me Hime-san," Yuki said again blushing.

Many of the people watched them dance. Some even stopped dancing just to watch. After almost and hour of dancing around the floor, they finally stopped. They left the ground and returned to the shadow where people can't see them.

"Ah, I'm tired," Yuki said, massaging her arm.

"Well that was a very long time out there."

"Too long. I'm going back to the palace," Yuki said and yawned.

"You're not staying?"

"Nope. I'm not obligated to stay. It's also a Christmas party, you know. I don't like it when everything's about me. Plus, I'm cold out here."

"Alright, I'll go back to Remu-san then?"

"Who?" Yuki asked walking away to her father.

"My boss," Dark said and watched her walk up to the stage to her father. "Oops, I forgot," he had to himself. He stood there thinking to himself for a little while and decided on something, then walked away.

* * *

"Father," Yuki said as she came over to him.

"Yes? What is it Yuki?" he asked.

"I'm tired, I'm returning to the palace now."

"Of course you'd be tired after all the dancing. Who was that anyways? He looked handsome."

"Nobody really, just a commoner. Anyways I'm going back."

"Say something before you leave."

"Fine," Yuki said and went over to the front of the stage, the music stopped playing and the people stopped dancing and looked up at her. "Once again I thank you for coming. I'll be excusing myself now, and I just wanted to say to you all, have a Merry Christmas!"

Yuki bowed to add a little fan service and then left. The music started playing again and the people started dancing and mingling.

"Good night, Yuki," the king said.

"Good night, Father," Yuki returned.

* * *

Yuki walked up the long stairs to the palace. Then the halls, then through the courtyard, then another flight of stairs, down another hall and finally reached her room.

"No wonder I'm so thin, I work off everything just by walking to my room," Yuki said to herself as she entered into her room.

Immediately she changed into a warm nightdress. She was preparing to leap into her large bed when suddenly the glass doors swung opened.

"Eh?!" Yuki screamed as Dark entered the room.

"Yo," Dark greeted still dressed in his suit.

"W-what are y-you d-doing here?" Yuki asked sacred out of her wits.

"Never mind about that," Dark said, "Want to go somewhere?"

"W-what?" Yuki asked, suffering from an almost heart attack.

"Here, I'll take you somewhere you will want to go see," Dark said suddenly.

"That's not necessary," Yuki panicked as Dark unleashed his wings and took Yuki (prince charming style) and took wing over the ocean.

"Oh, what's this?" Dark asked Yuki, which is, right now, grasping extremely tightly at Dark's shirt and with her head buried into his chest. "Hime-san, are you "acrophobic"?"

"No," Yuki muttered she voice almost inaudible through the hissing wind.

"Yes, you are," Dark said to her, "Otherwise, why would you be acting this way?"

"I'm only afraid of heights, I won't throw myself over a wall," Yuki said.

"What does that have to do with being acrophobic?"

"Acrophobia sometimes makes people jump over cliffs of a high wall, because they can't get themselves on the ground normally."

"Really? I never knew."

"Just land somewhere," Yuki said.

"Then that case I'll get you to "that spot." Before we get there don't open your eyes, okay?" Dark said with a teasing voice.

"You don't have to tell me that," Yuki muttered, her eyes squeezed tightly shut almost to the point where tears would come out.

"Just bear with it for a few more minutes, Hime-san," Dark said, this time more concern in his voice.

A few more minutes later, Dark said to Yuki after he set her down on her bottom, "Okay, Hime-san, you can open your eyes now."

Yuki slowly opened her eyes to find herself sitting one the round rooftop of a lighthouse and the glassy sea below her.

"It's beautiful," she said as the light of the lighthouse rolled over the water.

"Isn't it? It took me awhile to find this place. Is it to your liking, Hime-san?" Dark asked taking a seat next to Yuki.

"It is," Yuki said happily, smiling a very big smile, which caused Dark to smile.

"Oh, here. I forgot to give you this at the dance floor," Dark said and handed Yuki a box with a pair of earrings in them, "Happy Birthday.."

"You didn't steal these did you? Yuki asked.

"That's mean. One second you are just a damsel in distress, now you're Miss Detective," Dark said, "Maybe I should just pick you up and fly around. You in that position looked kinda cute."

"D-don't," Yuki said embarrassed.

"Alright, alright. I won't I get another chance later anyways," Dark said.

After a long awkward silence, Yuki said, "Thank you. No one has said that to me yet."

"Really?" Dark said.

"Yeah," she replied, then she shivered a little.

Dark, being the gentleman that he is took off his jacket and draped it over Yuki. She pulled it close to her, and then Dark opened his wings and created a barrier around them.

"It's warm," Yuki said digging her hand into the feathers.

"Of course it is," Dark said, "it's alive as well."

"Thank you," Yuki said leaning on the wings.

Dark smiled, "Actually I was planning for the earrings to be just a Christmas gift. This would be your real birthday gift."

"Eh?" Yuki muttered as Dark leaned in.

Dark cupped Yuki's flushed face with his hand and drew her in. Yuki looked up at Dark eyes, he came in and kissed her gently. Yuki suddenly blushed so red she looked as if she would blow at minute. Dark moved away from Yuki.

"So how was it?" Dark asked.

"H-how was i-it?" Yuki stuttered really badly, "Um, well it was my first, s-so I don't really know."

"What I stole your first kiss?" Dark asked.

"Y-yeah," Yuki said looking away.

"I didn't know that was Hime-san's first kiss in her lifetime," Dark said looking off into the distance.

"It's alright," Yuki said, covering her mouth with her hand."It's okay," she said after a pause.

"What?" Dark asked.

"Nothing," was Yuki's only reply.

"Alright well let's me bring you back now. It's getting late and cold," Dark said and lifted his wings.

He carried Yuki, which still kept her head in his chest, back to her room.

"Thank you again, for today," she said after he brought her back to the ground, clinging onto her gift.

"No problem," Dark said, "Anytime you want to go back to that place again you can just tell me, I'll bring you there, okay?"

"Yes," Yuki said and went over to her jewelry box and set it next to it.

"Well then, if I don't get back and help Remu-san move her stuff over, she'll get cross. See you sometime later, Hime-san," Dark said and turned to leave.

"Bye," Yuki waved at him and he flew out.

After he left Yuki took out the earrings and put them on. The sterling sliver pieces were shaped like little feathers floating next to her neck. She took them off and placed them in the box. And then went to sleep.

* * *

**Mokona: Well that's for Chapter 7. Hoped you liked it. **** Oh, and **_**MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!**_


	8. Chapter 8

Eight

Dark woke from a whistling sound in his new room. When he opened his eyes and looked around the room, there was only a present sitting on the cold wooden floorboards. The present, wrapped in a rich burgundy red wrapper with a gold-laced ribbon tied neatly around it, looked just like any old wrapped gift. Yet the giver was nowhere in sight. Dark dragged himself off his bed and walked over to the present. He took it and sat back down on his bed. He looked at it and found a little tag underneath the large bow.

"To: Dark," he read still half asleep. Then fully woke up when he read, "From: Your Sempai (Upper class student, like a senior). Be careful, very fragile."

He started untying the ribbon and carefully ripped the wrapper. He uncovered a cage the size for a little dog. He opened the cage and a white ball of fur jumped out.

"Ahh!" Dark yelped out in surprise.

The little creature turned around and faced Dark. It had huge red eyes like a rabbit with huge white loopy ears. They stared at each other for a while and finally the little creature smiled and made a little sound that sounded like a "buh." And then just as Dark was calming down, it jumped on Dark's lap and did the little animal thing and turned around in circles and settled down.

"What the," Dark started saying and then saw a note in the little animals cage. He bent down and took it, squeezing the little creature until it woke up from its short slumber. Dark read the note: Yo, Kouhai-chan (underclass man, like a freshman)! It's a sprite; you're going to need it in the future. Oh, and Merry Christmas. Sincerely, Sempai. "Sempai," Dark muttered to himself, "Kouhai-chan is overdoing it."

"Buh," the little creature said again and smiled.

"So what it is?" Yuki asked holding the little thing up, sitting on her bed.

"Hm, what do you mean?" Dark asked, sitting at her coffee table.

"I mean, is it a rabbit or is it a dog?" Yuki asked setting it down on her lap and started petting it.

"It's a sprite. It's a Christmas gift from my Sempai," Dark explained.

"Eh, you have a Sempai? I wonder if I'll ever meet him."

"Probably not. If you did, I bet you'd get acquainted very quickly."

"You think?" Yuki asked and then started patting the creature. "So what are you going to name it? Is it a boy or a girl?"

"I think it's a boy." Dark said, "I think I'll call it Uizu."

"What a weird name," Yuki said. "Well, it fits the owners name."

"What do you mean?"

"Dark's a peculiar name too. Nobody names their own kid Dark."

"So, that just means it a unique name."

"Fine, fine. So Uizu, what do you like to eat?"

"He likes strawberries. When Remu-san was making cake with them Uizu kept stealing them."

"Really? Did she get mad?"

"Not really. She just said: Awww, you look so cute with your mouth all red. And stuff like that."

"Well, what do you expect from girls? I bet if you walk around with it in public every female on the streets will stop and look at it."

"It doesn't matter whether or not they stop," Dark said standing up and crossing the room to Yuki and leaned in on her, "It only matters if you do."

"Well, it's not like I'm going to walk on the streets any day soon," Yuki said standing up, ditching Uizu on her bed, and walking over to the balcony.

"Where are you going then?" Dark asked.

"I'm not telling you. It's not like you'll be able to go with me since Remu-san's café is opening soon. You're going to be busy aren't you?"

"So it's when the New Year arrives?"

"No."

"Hime-san," Dark whined.

"Did Uizu eat dinner yet?" Yuki asked all of a sudden.

"Don't change the subject," Dark said.

"No, I mean he looks like he's about to faint," Yuki said and pointed to the little fur ball that slumping on her bed.

"Now that you mention it, I didn't feed Uizu before I left."

"Geez, what kind of master are you? Hide yourself for awhile will you?" Yuki asked and went to her door as Dark grabbed Uizu and headed out the balcony. Yuki summoned her maidservant. "May you get me a plate of strawberries up here?"

"Yes, ma'am," the maid said and left, and quickly returning with Yuki's order.

"Thank you," Yuki said taking the plate and closed her door. "Alright, I got Uizu some food."

Dark came back in and put Uizu on the coffee table where Yuki placed the strawberries. "I actually don't really understand why Sempai sent him here," Dark said patting Uizu's head.

"What with the Sempai talk all of a sudden?"

"I haven't told you about anything yet have I?" Dark said. "Well, as you already know I'm an angel, sent down to steal arts that can be harmful to humans. I've lived on the earth for a total of seventeen years. I was put in a human body, and started as just a baby. Sempai was the one that taught me everything about my mission, how to live like a human, everything I know right now."

"Is he responsible for your art of wooing women also?" Yuki asked interrupting him.

"No, don't disturb me." Dark said kind of pissed. "Anyways, Rutile is supposed to be the last place that I'm supposed to steal from. There's nothing more on my list that Sempai gave me. But today, I got Uizu wrapped as a gift from Sempai saying that I'll need him in the future."

"I'm sure your Sempai has his reasons, the same with God." Yuki said. "Maybe they're just being cautious. You know it's better safe than sorry. At least that's what Kyo says all the time."

"How is the crown prince? I haven't met him yet," Dark asked.

"Kyo? He's fine, at least physically. I don't really comprehend as to how much work he has to do all the time, along with learning the art of fencing. His body's frail also. I worry about him a lot."

"It seems like you love your younger brother a lot."

"Of course. Kyo will forever be my baby brother. No matter what," Yuki said and the clock chimed eleven o'clock. "Alright I'm going to sleep."

"Alright," Dark said, "Uizu are you done?" Uizu gave him a little, "Buh," sound and then burped a little. "Come on, let's go home now." And the little creature jumped on Dark's shoulder.

"Good night, Uizu, Dark," Yuki said and threw the comforter on herself. "Don't forget to close the doors.

"Alright. Good night, Hime-san," Dark said and closed the doors.

"Dark-kun! Dark-kun," Remu called for at the first story of the new café that's ready to go.

"What, Remu-san?" Dark asked coming down.

"You remember what day it is right?" she asked.

"Uh…um… what was it again?" Dark asked trying to recall anything from the back of his mind.

"It's the Angel's Café's grand opening. How can you forget such an event?"

"I'm sorry it's just that I have so many thing's on my shoulder's right now, forget things easily."

"What are you? Fifty? Forgetting things. Bah! Anyways, here's your uniform. Change into it," Remu-san said handing Dark some clothing.

"Right, my part time job starts today," Dark said, and went to the bathroom to change.

"Oh, by the way, we're having a special quest at our opening today. Guess who it is," Remu said on the other side of the door.

"N-no one's coming into mind," Dark answered struggling with his uniform, which is finally coming into form as a classic caterer suit with a white shirt with a bow tie, and a back vest, black trousers with shiny dance shoes.

"You'll never guess it," Remu said.

Dark finally came out, "So who is it?"

"Yuki-himesama," Remu said. "I never knew that she'd be aware of such a little café. I'm so happy right now!"

"Hime-san?" Dark muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I'm just surprised that she'd come all this way."

"Yeah, she sure has changed. Maybe she feels like being with the people more."

"Yeah," Dark.

"Or maybe she's taken a liking toward you, but that'll do her no good, Dark-kun already has a girlfriend. One that he seems to like to go out with every night," Remu teased.

"I don't have a girlfriend."

"Then how do you explain you being out every night?"

"Ah… um…." Dark stuttered trying to come up with an explanation that doesn't involve him stealing. Just then Uizu jumped on his shoulder and greeted the two with a, "Buh."

"Ah, Uizu," Remu said, "I have just the thing for you. Come with me." And Uizu jumped over on Remu's arm.

"Ah, thank you Uizu," Dark said under his breath. "That was close."

* * *

And Uizu appears!! Yay!! I'm sorry for taking such a hell of a long time, I'm sorry. So Sorry. 


	9. Chapter 9

Nine

January passed by quickly. The cold days soon passed. Our princess was busy preparing for a Valentine coming up quickly. Our dark angel was just as busy in the Angels' Café working as a waiter also preparing for the holiday.

"Remu-san," Dark called to the back of the kitchen where the old woman was baking. "Were all done for today."

"Thank you," she called back. It was nine and time to close. Remu came out and wiped her hands on her apron.

"Hey, I'm going to take off now," their new employee said at the back door, putting on his jacket.

"See you later, Takada," Dark said to the young man.

"Wait, wait," Remu called. "Here take these home to your mother," she said and handed him a bag. "It's a bunch of herbal tea leaves. And here some of the muffins I just baked."

"Thank you, Remu-san," he said, "You shouldn't have."

"Na, it's nothing. Your mother was a good friend of mine. Now go home."

"Thank you so much," Takada said and bowed. "See you tomorrow Dark, you too Uizu," he said to Uizu which was eating his dinner, strawberries, on the counter.

"Yeah," Dark said and went upstairs. Then a clatter of doorbells rang in the front of the store.

"The store's closed," Remu called.

"Um," a young girl's voice said, "I'm looking for Dark-san."

Remu walked to the counter and Uizu poked his little head just enough to see. There was a girl with brown short hair standing before the door. "Dark-kun," Remu called upstairs.

"Coming," he said and came downstairs. Remu returned to the pastries she was making just a little while ago. This wasn't the first time. Since the café opened there were a lot of girls that came after it closed looking for Dark.

Remu watched the two while mixing in her ingredients. But soon the girl just left. Dark then walked to the back door and locked it.

"Another fan?" Remu asked.

"Yeah," Dark said turning around.

"Hey, Dark-kun, why do you do that?"

"Do what?" Dark asked.

"There's been already seven girls that came already, how come you send them away all the time? Why don't you just hook up with one of them? They're all nice girls."

"That's because I already have one."

"What?" Remu exclaimed. "How come I wasn't aware? Is it the girl you were talking about before? You should invite her to come sometimes. I want to meet her."

"I'm not sure she has all that time," Dark said and went up stairs.

"Young people," Remu muttered under her breathe. Uizu came over to her and she patted his head.

Then Dark came down stairs wearing a heavy trench coat. "You're going out today too?" Remu asked.

"Yeah," Dark said and opened the door and the little balls rang. "Uizu, you coming with me?"

Uizu hurriedly ran to the counter and leaped off of it and landed on Dark's shoulder. "I'll be back at around ten thirty."

"Don't worry. Take your time," Remu said. And Dark left.

He headed to the forest and took out his list. Uizu jumped off of his shoulder and landed on the ground. Dark opened up his cavern where everything was hidden and put his trench coat in it. "Stay here, until I come back alright?" he said to Uizu. Then his took off into the night sky.

* * *

Yuki looked threw her journal. Everything seemed to be in place. The festival should run just fine. Well, of course. It's the same every year; it's just that she volunteered to be the head of the festival. Well, it's probably because she felt bored. Since the Angel's Café opened, Dark has been busy and hasn't visited her as often.

She closed the booklet. "I wonder if this stress is appropriate for my age," she muttered to herself. "Well, whatever," she said to herself again. Then went to the bathroom and took a bath. After she finished and changed into her cashmere nightgown, she left the steam-filled room to dry her hair.

"Yo, Hime-san," he said hanging his coat on her coat hanger.

"How many times have I said not to sneak up on me?" she asked him and draped her towel over her shoulders.

"How hot is your water?" Dark asked from her bed, "It creates so much steam the glass outside the bathroom fogs up."

"What does that matter to you?" she asked. "So what did you steal tonight?"

"How do you know I stole something tonight?"

"You're not wearing regular day clothes," Yuki said and Uizu hopped onto her shoulder. "Hello, Uizu."

"Hey you know, Remu-san wants you to visit our café. Do you think you can make time for that?"

"And what? Tell everyone that you come to my balcony and woo me?"

"That's not a very nice was of putting it," Dark said. "And when did I ever start wooing you?

"Well, the people aren't going to think that we're just friendly talking, are they? Of course they'll think of something obnoxious to get everybody's attention."

"I guess this is the experience you get when everyone looks at you since you were born."

"Well, you should have the same experience since you are Kaito," Yuki said. She put the towel away, since her hair was only damp and went over to the bed and tucked herself in. "So what are you guys doing for the Valentine festival?"

"Well, obviously we're going to open a booth and advertise. Why do you ask?"

"If that the case, I might drop by. Then everyone will just think that I like your café's pastries. That can also be the case that I go there often. That will also probably bring the café more business."

"You think very thoroughly don't you?"

"I always do. I've been taught like that."

" You sound a lot like Remu-san," Dark said. "She thinks about every tiny little aspect."

"Maybe Kyo should stay at her place for a while. Maybe the thoroughness will rub off of him," Yuki joked.

"Is that a joke, Hime-san?" Dark asked. "It's been awhile since I've heard one from you. Bravo."

Yuki smiled just a little then looked at the clock. "It's 10:40. I should to go sleep now. I have a lot of things to take care of tomorrow."

"I guess being the head of the festival must make it very hard for you."

"Yeah," Yuki said lying down on her bed and pulled the covers up. "It sure has taken its toll on me. I just hope that it would be very enjoyable that day."

"Well, I'll ask Remu-san to make her specials that day especially for you, alright?" Dark said leaning in toward her face until Yuki can feel his breath on her face.

"I look forward to it," Yuki said and closed her eyes. Dark turned off the lights and left.

* * *

It's the day. Valentines. The day where lovers give gifts to each other and joy and merriment fills the air.

"Why do we have to make this holiday such an event?" Yuki asked herself.

"I'm not so sure," her father said. "It's just always been tradition."

"I see." she said as she handmaid pinned up the rest of she hair.

"So how much chocolate do you expect this year?" her father asked.

"Let's not think about that right now since I've forgotten that matter already. And isn't "tradition" that the girl gives her chocolates to the boy and then he returns it on White Day?" I asked.

"I guess that's why White Day's also such a celebrated holiday for us also."

"Just don't put me in charge of that day. I plan on going to the summer villa on those days."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"The people are going to be sad that day"

"Well, they are just going to have to cope with it. I need a vacation."

"Oh by the way, the new police captain is going to be stationed here at Rutile. You might see him around in the palace. I've heard that he's a pretty handsome man."

"You've never seen your own captain of the guard before?"

"No, I've signed a treaty with Lagoone just a few weeks before. It's for seeking shelter when we need it. In exchange their people can go in and out of our kingdom." Lagoone was a large kingdom, well larger than Rutile, up north above Rutile.

"What? That's like letting their kingdom take over ours just for shelter when we don't even need it?" Yuki said getting angry.

"Yuki, listen. If we were to be attacked do you think we, just a tiny little province-country, can stand up to them? What do you think will happen if we don't have people to lean on? Think about the people." Her father was very right about the situation, but Yuki kept being stuborn.

"But that's no notion to just let other's take over," Yuki said turning away from the mirror and facing her father. She was getting angrier by the second at her father's notion. Then someone came into the room.

"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness. Please excuse my behavior, but the public is waiting," an advisor ushered.

"Thank you, Regenei," Theodil-o said. "Let's continue this talk later. See you at the city then, my dear," and with this the king left Yuki. Very soon her maid also left her and she was left all alone in her room.

Just as she was about to leave the room her glass door of her balcony was knocked on. She went over to it and opened it.

"I hoped to catch you still here," Dark said as he came into her room.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have a booth to take care of?" Yuki asked.

"Yeah, but Takada doing just fine. At this time mostly the elders or couples are walking around. Those that are single come out later, or at least that's what Remu-san says. So when you do you plan on going down there, Hime-san?"

"Why do you ask? Are you going to escort me?" Yuki asked, setting herself at her jewelry stand, decided as to what earring she should wear today.

"Of course not," Dark said. He walked over to her and leaned over her shoulder pressing his muscular chest against Yuki's fragile back. He picked out a pair for her. "Here, try these," he said and held them out for her.

"Why of course you would recommend these. They are the pair you gave me on Christmas," Yuki said and started putting the on.

"Yes, but I don't remember you wearing them."

"How do you know that, you don't see me everyday? You can't be positive that I've worn them or not."

"Fine, I don't remember you ever wearing them for my viewing pleasure," Dark said and then leaned in until Yuki can feel his hot breath on her face. "And only for me," he whispered.

"Well, it is Valentine's Day, I guess I'll do this for you then," Yuki said with a cool head, but she can't lie to herself that she didn't like it.

"Then I'm happy," Dark said and backed off. "Although I would have really loved it to see you blush."

"Then you should learn a new move," Yuki said and gathered her things. "I'll see you at your booth then."

"See ya later," Dark said and started for the balcony.

"Wait, Dark," Yuki called from where she sat.

"Yes, Hime-san?" he said just a few steps from where she was.

"Here you go," she said and tossed him a wrapped box. "I know you're going to get a lot of girls all over you and you have to watch the booth so here's a little boost for you."

"Thank you, Hime-san," Dark said and leaned in and kissed her cheek. "I'll be sure not to share it."

"Anyways see you later," Yuki said standing up.

"I thought I used a new move," Dark complained when she didn't fidget.

"A peck on the cheek isn't a new move, it's a step down from kissing," Yuki said.

"Oh well, later," Dark said and then he flew away.

Yuki went to her door and was ready to open it when she peered into the mirror and saw her reflection. The earring really brings out the color of my eyes, she thought. She felt satisfied at this and left is merriment.

* * *

"Hey, Dark," Takada called from the booth. "Where have you been? Remu-san was here just a minute ago. Do you know how hard it was to cover up for you?"

"Yeah, of course." Dark said tossing up the chocolate that Yuki gave him and caught it. "That's why I have you do it." Takada glared at him. "I'm just joking."

"Don't joke about sudden death man," Takada said. Dark entered the booth. "Wow, so who is the one that gave you a chocolate this early in the morn?"

"A girl that's very pretty and high in status," Dark said.

"Hey, I got what you needed," Takada said and handed Dark a giant bag. There is two purposes for the bag: Dark doesn't want to carry all the chocolates that he's going to receive, and Remu wants to save on chocolates for her pastries.

"Thanks man," he said and got ready to work.

A couple came over to sample the pastries and as they left the clock stroked noon. Dark set out another tray.

"You're not going to put that chocolate in there?" Takada asked.

"Nope."

"Why? Is she that special?" Takada asked. "Don't tell me you're just going to keep that one."

"Of course."

"Then what about the other chocolates?"

"Those we can use for chocolate icings. This is all part of Remu-san's plan. All right it's noon right now. Brace yourself, the Calvary's coming."

"So what's this girl like?" Takada asked ignoring Dark's advise.

"She's hot headed sometimes and thinks everything out," Dark said.

"Sounds like Remu-san," Takada said then he started preparing for the stampede of hormones that are produced on Valentine's Day.

* * *

It was around two when they were almost out of pastries, so they started cleaning up just a little as they were ready to get a break and go to lunch.

"So," Takada started, "among the havoc that was happening, did your beloved come to visit?"

"No," Dark said heaving the gigantic bag of chocolates onto the table where there was free space. "I'm sure she's going to pop up any minute right now. You now she's really busy and we are going to be very busy bringing all this chocolate back to the store."

"Yeah." Takada said. "Hey, do you now when we are going to close this booth?"

"Right now."

"What? It's the afternoon, what about the rest of the day?"

"Just following Remu-san's plan, man. She's the boss, she makes the rules."

"Hey I wonder if Kaito is going to steal something tonight?"

"Yeah," Dark said, "Maybe he's going on a date tonight with a girl."

"You think he has a girl?"

"You never know," Dark said and tried to change the subject. "So Takada, do you have a date tonight?"

"No, I'm going to stay with my mom tonight," Takada said.

"What? Isn't you mom going to help Remu-san tonight?"

"She is? I never knew," Takada said.

"I'm gonna guess that you don't have a date either."

"Yeah. What am I going to do?"

"Don't worry about it," Dark said. "You're not that bad looking. Go on and hit on a girl you like, I'll take care of everything here. I'll even help you, so who do you like?"

"The… princess."

"You cannot hit on her," Dark said after some considering of his words. "She's… engaged to some lord duke guy."

"I was just kidding. And is she really engaged? Last time I check she was a free as a bird," Takada said. Dark gave him a look. "Fine," Takada said, "you know that girl that came just the day before looking for you? Her name's Kirai. She's… she's a childhood friend of mine."

"You like her? She's not a bad girl," Dark said.

"Ok then, I'm going to go now," Takada said as someone caught his eye.

"Hi excuse me," a young girl that was fairly pretty came up to the booth.

"Kirai-chan," Takada panicked, actually he almost jumped out of the booth. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Well, I was looking for," she paused a little and looked at both Dark and Takada. She was going to speak, but then Dark spoke.

"Takada, I'm going to go to the café now," Dark said and grabbed the large bag of chocolates and then a smaller bag were he put the pastries that were left over. He made for the exit, but then turned around and retrieved his chocolate then he turned to Takada and whispered a good-luck in his ear as he passed.

"So," he heard Takada start as he walked father and father away from the booth.

* * *

Dark walked all the way to the café, which was quiet a distance from the booth. He entered from the back door. "Remu-san," he said as he put down his large bag of chocolates on the ground and the left over pastries on the stove counter.

"Hello, Dark-kun, did you get what I wanted?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's all in the bag. Oh, and Takada might not be coming back today," he said and pointed at the bag. Uizu was sleeping soundly on the counter nearby.

"Did he score with Kirai-chan?" Remu said and started sorting out the chocolates.

"Yes! How'd you know?"

"His mother's been spilling information about him," she said. "Don't you ever listen to your elders? Well anyways, change into your waiter outfit and start working. We don't close until ten today, I hope your girlfriend knows that."

"I'm sure she won't mind at all what time I appear before her. And you know, the way you speak, really makes me doubt you age," he said and headed up stairs. While he was changing upstairs he kept rewinding throughout the day and wondering whether or now Yuki ever showed up. Her face never showed up at the booth. After tying his little bow tie, that he found very difficult to do, he went downstairs.

As he was walking down the stairs Remu came to meet him, her face gleaming with joy, which he took cannot be a good thing for his part.

"Guess who just dropped in?" she asked in a quiet whisper.

"The king?" Dark guessed.

"Oh! So close!" she exclaimed with a loud whisper. "Anyways you'll see when you get down there. I'm going to go up and change, do your job and cater."

Of course at that time, Dark no longer needed to guess whom it was. Obviously it was Yuki. He continued down the stairs and headed for the counter. Yuki was sitting in one of the booth seats. She seemed just happy. While Dark was at the counter he looked out the windows, there wasn't a carriage outside, neither were there body guards or people that looked like undercover bodyguards. Years of thief work, and thousands of eyes suspecting you sure comes in handy once an awhile.

"So," he started casually as he handed her a menu, "I didn't really see you at the booth today, Hime…-sama." He had to remind himself that he was in public.

"You didn't see me off to the side?" she asked casually. "I didn't really go up to the booth, but I did send a handy man to get me something."

"You did," he said. "So where is he now?"

"I sent him away," she said. "I'll take a cup of coffee and a cream-filled butter bread, it was delicious. Compliments to the chief."

"Alright," Dark said and headed off. Soon he came back with Yuki's order. It felt a little weird to be serving Yuki, but she seemed to enjoy it. "Here you go, Hime-sama."

"Thank you," Yuki said and then suddenly stood up. She reached up to Dark's neck. Dark started to blush thinking that she'd make-out with him in public, although no one's watching. But she stopped at his bow and adjusted it a little.

"I'll teach you how to do it properly later," she whispered and sat back down.

"Thank you," he said. She smiled at him, and he almost died being jolted by that.

Then Remu came down, "Oh my, I do hope that Dark-kun's keeping you entertained. That's what I hired him for."

"He's doing fine, thank you," Yuki said. "Actually I met him at the booth. And all I can say ma'am, was that I found your pastries very pleasing." As soon as she said that people came into the café. "The food here rivals that of the chef's at the palace. Maybe even better. I'm sure I'll come visit very soon."

"Thank you," Remu said.

The rest of the time it was just Remu chit-chatting with Yuki and maybe someone from the on looking side comes in to say a few things. Well, Dark was too busy to note anything that they were saying, since the place was filled with reporters and other people. But soon Yuki left and her carriage arrived and took her back to the palace.

"I've never had a better evening," Remu said to Dark when they closed.

"Yeah, neither did your sales every reach the sky," he said sarcastically.

"I know. I must have been tough on you." Remu said. " But I'm so happy that the princess likes our food. Do you know what this means?" Dark guessed it in a split second. "The café's going to be so popular!" Remu started crying with happiness. Dark gave her a hug. She wiped her tears away, "You know what? This is all thanks to you. If I didn't have you I don't know what'd I do."

"Thank you."

"You know what else? I'm going to make Takada work so hard for the next few days because he skipped out today."

"Do kill him though," Dark said.

"I won't. You take off now," Remu said. "I'm sure she's waiting."

"Thank you," Dark said and gave her another hug. "You know Remu-san, you are like the mother I never had."

"Oh, thank you Dark-kun," Remu said.

Dark took his heavy trench coat and left the building. Remu started cleaning up the rest of the things lying around, since Dark had done most of everything. Uizu was sleeping again on the counter.

"Ooh, get up, Uizu. Otherwise you'll grow fat," she said.


	10. Chapter 10

Ten

Yuki finally made it back to the haven of her room. Guh, she thought, why does Valentine have to be so hectic? She went to her jewelry and make-up stand and undid her hair, which ended up just slightly wavy. She went to her closet and changed into a comfy gray cashmere nightgown. She lay down on her bed and just stared up at the ceiling. Then she remembered she had something to do.

She got up and went to Kyo's room just down the hall. She stopped in front of the door and lightly knocked on it.

"Coming," Kyo said on the other side and opened the door. "Oh, hi, Onee-sama."

"What's wrong, Kyo?" Yuki asked and bent down a little to get a closer look at him. "You look a little pale. Is everything all right?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," Kyo said. "I just finished a whole load of work and more is coming. So, how was your day today?"

"Well… hectic," Yuki said. "Here," she handed him a box tied up with a red ribbon, "Happy Valentine's Day. Maybe it'll help you get energized a little."

"Thank you so much," Kyo said. "I better get back now."

"Alright. Don't stay up too late," Yuki said and Kyo closed his door after a nod. Yuki returned to her room.

"Hey, Hime-san," Dark said when she entered.

"What are you do—why do I even bother asking?" Yuki said and sat on her bed. "So are you off now, or did you sneak out?"

"I would ever sneak out, unless it's a job-job."

"Right," Yuki said and crawled into bed.

"You're going to sleep now?" Dark asked. After a moment he went over to the bed and crawled on it. He moved his face really close to Yuki's. "So do you want to get to it?"

Yuki blushed like a volcano erupting. She jumped out her bed. "God! Why are you so vulgar?"

Dark just sat on the bed and laughed a cherry laugh. "I'm kidding. Remember I'm an angel, I won't do things like that." Then he said with a different tone, "All I want is to finish the job and return to heaven."

"Dark," Yuki muttered. She kneeled on the bed, feeling empathy. She muttered his name again and put and hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

Suddenly he grabbed her hand, pulled her into his chest, and wrapped his arms around her. Yuki felt his heart pounding against her chest and it melted into her. She closed her eyes as two heartbeats became one.

Just then, this pain shot into her back as if a blade had stabbed her. She cried out. Dark pulled her away from him. "Hime-san? What's wrong?"

Yuki curled up and clasped her teeth together to stop herself from screaming out in pain. Dark sensed magic in the room, and then suddenly a brilliant light filled the room. It escaped through the balcony and shone like the light of a lighthouse.

The guards outside saw the light and called their captains. "Hurry," they said and called the soldiers inside.

After the light disappeared, Dark opened his eyes. Yuki laid on her bed unconscious. Everything in the room was in place as if nothing happened, except for the golden wings that stuck out of the princess' back, glowing like fire.

Yuki breathed heavily and sweat covered her brow. The footsteps of the soldiers came crashing through the hall. Dark panicked for just a second. He had to get out of there, but he can't just leave Yuki their with her wings sticking out of her.

He quickly lifted her into his arms. Her back burned like fire on his human skin, but his cherubic side sets his spirit to calmness. He headed for the balcony with her and shut the doors using his magic to lock it and flew off in the dark as everyone else looked in the other direction.

Yuki opened her eyes and found herself in a little clearing. Cool water dripped on her forehead and flowed down the side of her cheek. Then a moistened cloth touched her head. She reached up caught Dark's hand.

"Good morning, Hime-san," Dark said. "How are you feeling? Does your back still hurt?"

"Good morning," Yuki said one at a time. "I'm feeling fine. No, it doesn't. It's just sore. What is this?" she asked and took the cloth off of her head.

"You caught a slight fever in the middle of the night. You should be all better now," Dark said and put his hand on her forehead. "Yup. All gone."

Yuki sat up and her wings popped opened. She turned her head. "What the heck?" she practically screamed. "Dark, why are there wings on my back?" She lurched toward him as if to run away from the wings.

"I'm not sure," Dark started, "but I think you are also an angel."

"That's impossible! I was borne from a human woman."

"That might not be totally true. You see, before God sent me down, he sent another down. Nobody knows what she looks like, or when she was sent down." Dark stroked her face. "You are getting all of this?"

"So you are saying, somewhere along the path up my ancestors, some are angels?"

"No. They are probably put in a human vessel and the granted power of the angel is sealed until something breaks it. It's probably… a very strong sense of will, or strong forces of emotion toward something."

Yuki sat in a daze. After a moment, "The masked man said that he saw wings spring out of my back. You think I started years ago?"

"What happened that time?"

"My mother and I were just in the courtyard and were attacked. That was all, well, I don't remember the rest."

"Was you father there?"

"No. He wasn't."

Dark thought about it for a while. "I'll try to find out what's happening. In the mean time we should focus on how to hide them. You can't be walking around the city with them."

Yuki just nodded. Dark held out a dark feather and waved it around the wings, and then they just disappeared.

"Alright," he said, "that should keep them away from human eyes for a while." Dark put a hand on the very pale Yuki, "You alright?"

"Y-yeah," she muttered and then cleared her throat. "Um… I'm a little shaky right now. You can go first. I'll stay here for just a little longer." She waved her hand around to emphasize for him to leave.

"Alright," Dark said and steadily got up and left. "Be careful."

Yuki sat still at the clearing for another fifteen minutes then she got up on her wobbly legs. She caught herself on a tree, her head throbbing just slightly. She stood there for a moment and picked herself up and walked out of the clearing.

When she made it out of the woody park, tired from carrying her abnormal heavy body, she staggered into the street. Everybody that was in eye view stopped what they were doing and crowed next to her. Then the soldiers came rushing to the site.

"Alright, everybody back up!" they shouted and the people made a tiny little void for them to pass. Yuki saw, from behind the wall of people, a tall man coming towards her. His hair was long and golden; his clothes white like a dove's. She vision blurred and she fell forwards and he caught her.

"Hime-sama," he said with an angelic voice, full of pride and dignity. Yuki closed her eyes and fell unconscious again.

* * *

I'm sorry for updating to late. I kinda had a writer's block on all of my stories. Anyways, I'm going to get back to writting now. So cherio! 


	11. Chapter 11

Eleven

Yuki woke up in her own bed and stared up at the faded pink ceiling of her room. She put a hand on her forehead and everything just came screaming back to her. She sat up on her bed and reached behind her back and felt nothing. Then she felt a little queer feeling on the tips of her fingers, like a buzzing that made her fingers go slightly numb. Magic, she thought.

Kyo sat on a chair next to her with his upper torso lumped over the sheets. He lay asleep on the bed. Yuki smiled and patted his soft hair. She looked at the clock. 5:42, too early, she thought. She dumped her head back on the pillow but couldn't fall asleep. She got up again and got off the bed on the other side.

She went to the closet and took out a sheet and draped it over Kyo. Then pulled a jacket over her. She then walked over to the balcony. She looked over the ocean as the sun started saying hello to everyone. The cool breeze combed through her hair filled with the sweet scent of spring. The cold air chilled her a bit.

"Good morning, Hime-san," Dark said sitting on the rails on the other side of the balcony, his voice dipped with a little remorse than usual.

"Good morning," Yuki said with a smile. She walked over to him and put a hand on his arm.

"I brought coco," he said and lifted a warmed bottle. Yuki took out some cups that were left in her room and Dark poured the drink in them. "I'm sorry for what happened," Dark said.

"About what?" Yuki asked and sipped her drink.

"About the seal," Dark said. 

"The seal that kept my cherubim hidden?"

"Yeah," Dark said. "I asked Senpai about it. He said I was the key. I don't understand what that means, but it meant that it was my fau—"

"If you are talking about that," Yuki said cutting him off, "then I forgive you." She gave him a big smile. "Cheer up. You're much better company when you are annoying than when you are gloomy."

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Dark asked blushing just a little.

"Ah! Are you blushing?" Yuki said laughing. The two of them almost burst into laughter, then Yuki covered up her mouth remembering Kyo in the room.

"So what are you doing next, Hime-san?"

"I'm probably going on a holiday. I really need one anyways."

"Where are you going?"

"Like I'm going to tell you," Yuki said jokingly.

"Che," Dark muttered.

Then Kyo muttered and moaned, waking up. Yuki turned around to look at him for just one second and then turned to face Dark, but he was no longer there.

"Good morning, Onee-sama," Kyo said rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"Good morning, Kyo."

* * *

"Yuki," Theodil-o called to his daughter as she walked hastily across the courtyard. Yuki stopped in the middle of the courtyard and turned to her father. "Come here." The king moved his index finger back and forth in an act of calling his daughter over.

Yuki halfheartedly walked through the dry ground to her father standing among the large alabaster pillars. "Come with me," he said and wrapped his arm around his daughter's shoulders. "I want you to meet the new Chief of the Royal Guard and a General from Lagoone. He has been stationed at the castle, so you'll be seeing a lot of him."

"Even if I do see him a lot, I'll probably never cross words with him," Yuki said as they entered through giant double doors to the king's office.

In the vast room stood a single man in white clothing as if it were the wool of a lamb. His long hair fell from his eyes like strands of gold. He turned his head; his eyes darted across the room and fell in Yuki.The corners of his mouth curved up and formed a gorgeous smile. His glazy golden eyes reflected the sun. "Good morning, Yuki-hime-sama," he said, his voice like cooing of doves. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He bowed down like a gentleman.

"Yuki," her father said to her, walking over to the young man. "This is General Krad."

"General." Yuki curtsied with grace and poise. "You must be quiet accomplished to rank general at your age."

"Thank you for your compliment, Hime-sama," Krad said smiling. "Please allow me to return the good deed by saying that you are the fairest in all the lands I've visited."

"Compliment accepted," Yuki said, tipping her head, gesturing a bow.

"Now, please excuse us, Yuki. The general and I have matters to discuss," Theodil-o said.

"Well, then," said Yuki and bowed at her father then to Krad.

"It's a honor meeting you, fair princess," Krad flirted as he bowed. Yuki left the room.

* * *

"So you're going on a trip?" Kyo asked at the table, hiving lunch with his elder sister. 

"Keep quiet. It's rude to be so loud at the table," Yuki said. After Kyo seated himself she started again. "It's just a little holiday. I've been overstressed with… unpredictable events."

"Unpredictable?"

"I just need a little time off, that's all." Yuki pushed her plate away and the servants took it away. "I'll be back soon. Don't worry."

"Ah, I wish I can have a holiday." Kyo slumped. "I've been overstressed with things that happen everyday."

"Wait until you're king," Yuki said.

"I don't want to," Kyo cried. Yuki laughed. It's wad decided when Kyo was born that her life was going to be significantly easier, but not anymore. "You have it easy." Kyo sat back up.

"Not necessarily."

"What do you mean?"

Yuki leaned in the table to her little brother and smiled like a sister, not a princess. "Do you know how many nobles at after my hand? Let's not even mention the princes from other countries." They both laughed. "But I guess you'll be having a problem like that soon enough." Kyo raised an eyebrow in confusion. Yuki laughed. "Yup! Who won't fall from my cute little brother?"

"So do you have any other problems?" Kyo asked.

"Yes. Yes, I do." Yuki smiled in another way that Kyo didn't understand.

"Onee-sama?" Kyo asked, "What is it?"

Yuki smiled like an elder sister again. She put her finger over her lips, "It's a secret."

"Wha?" Kyo yelled in dissatisfaction.

Yuki tapped her younger brother's head. "You're so lucky Father or Katsuo-sensei isn't here right now, or you'll be in big trouble." Kyo quickly covered his mouth with his hands and looked around skeptically.

"They aren't here are they?" he asked quietly.

"Who aren't where?" Katsuo-sensei asked from behind the young prince. Kyo shuddered under the shadow of the old man. "And, while I'm at it, what was the behavior just now?"

"Katsuo-sensei," Yuki said. Older sister to the rescue. "Would you like to join us with the rest of the meal?" Just then a servant came with ice cream and served Kyo and Yuki.

Katsuo-sensei looked at the ice cream and then at the princess, then at the prince, then his eyes reverted back to the ice cream sitting in front of Yuki. He cleared his throat. "I'm honored at Your Highness' invitation, but I am a busy man. Maybe next time." He turned around and started leaving. "Kyo-oji, please be on time to class." And the old teacher left them at peace.

"Wow! How'd you do that?" Kyo awed.

"Oh, my should I tell Kyo the secret?" Yuki teased.

"Please. Please. Please. Please. Please!" Kyo begged. His hands folded together, begging.

Yuki looked at his face and said. "Alright I'll tell you, but don't you go telling other people. This is only between you and me, okay?"

Kyo nodded ferociously.

"Katsuo-sensei is a sweet tooth." Kyo sat speechless. "Hard to believe isn't it?" Yuki smiled. "See, he's the type of man that is very disciplined, but when you but candy or ice cream or anything with a lot of sugar content in front of him, he goes berserk. But of course I was holding it back today. Did you see him sweat like a pig?"

"Is that why he won't allow candy in the classroom?" Yuki nodded. Kyo sat back down and put his hands together as if he was scheming something. "I see. Now it all makes sense."

"But!" Yuki interfered with his developing evil scheme; "You aren't allowed to use it in any horrific manner. Understand?" Kyo gave her a look of disapproval and disobedience. "Understand?" Yuki stared him down and he gave up.

"I got it!" he said.

* * *

Just a little something...

Mokona: Kanpie! (Raise a glass of OJ in the air) Let's all welcome the entry of Krad.

Dark: So you finally get some screen time, eh? It suits you to come so late in the story, as you are the villian.

Krad: Yeah, but did you read the description that Mokona wrote? "Glazy eyes like the morning sun," huh? I didn't see such a description for you.

Yuki: That's because everybody knows Dark's character already.

Krad: Oh, like they don't know mine.

Mokona: ...(to self) I kinda want to say it, but I don't want to lose my neck...

(Dark and Krad start fighting. Yuki is on the side yelling at them.)

Mokona: (thinking) maybe I'll save it for later... (anime sweat drop as Dark and Krad start using their magic and destroys the building. 


	12. Chapter 12

Twelve

Twelve

The countryside of Rutile, a homely little abode with a new coat of white paint, a clean forest around it, a nice view of Rutile over a cliff overlooking the ocean, finally, the time has come. Yuki's long waited vacation! The young princess sat on the porch swing. The wooden stills built over her head casts black and white shadows over her while she set her head back to rest. The wind of the forest blew. A nice breeze that Yuki wasn't very familiar with since she lived by the ocean. The scents there were different also. It smelled of wide berries and flowers that sway in the garden next to her, so different from the salty ocean smell she inhaled very day.

"Yuki-hime," the caretaker lady called. "Would you like some croquettes?"

"Thank you, Evanna. That would be nice." Yuki stood up and patted the dust off her skirt and entered the house. She felt free out here. Where she can freely wear sandals instead of hard heels. She can let her hair look a little unkempt or tie it in a simple ponytail and not be discriminated by ladies. Evanna and her husband, Even, were old, old friends of her mother's. They practically watched Yuki grow up, since the late queen brought her here so often.

"Evanna, I'm going out for a walk. I'll be back by supper time," Yuki said.

"Please be careful," Evanna said as she saw her off.

"Then I'm off," Yuki said and slipped into comfortable slippers for the long walk she expected. This is a place that Yuki can expect to be comfortable and Evanna and Even are able to keep their share of secrets with her here also. So whatever happened, she's not worried that it'll bring down her reputation.

The forest was thick with the smell of strawberries. Yuki came to a bush that was full of ripe ones. She took out a bag that she always brought along with her just for this purpose. "Uizu, would love to eat these," she said. I guess I'll bring some back, she thought. After picking enough, Yuki stood up again. The carefree-ness was overwhelming. She threw her hands up high and stretched in the middle of the road. "Ah! The air's so nice!" Nothing can go wrong here, she thought.

Soon she came to the spot that she marked as her destination. A place that was beloved by her mother. It was a little gazebo in the middle of the forest not very far from the mansion. She sat on the dusty bench inside the gazebo and took out a little book to read while she ate some of the strawberries. It's been two days since she went on her holiday and everything seems a-okay. No tedious political meetings, no angry teacher roaming the halls looking for his student, no rumors of her, no Phantom Thief, nothing but plenty of time and sweet strawberries.

The sound of the rustling leaves sang with the melody of chirping birds as they cautiously neared the calm princess. Here Yuki didn't mind the dust or the dirt on her clothing; she didn't mind what others would think about her like that because there wasn't anybody. The picture almost froze for just a split second filled with peace.

There was a step heard in the forest that stopped the fantasy. The birds resumed to sing, but it didn't match the harmony of the leaves. It was palpable that the mood changed when someone stepped into Yuki's privacy, everything was now aware of the foreign presence. Yuki kept reading her book, her posture was the same, but there was now a different air to it. She became stiff; the reason was not because she was nervous, but because that was how she was taught. In order to look strong she was always stiff. Although she actions looked graceful, she had to keep this posture. No matter who she was in front of.

A hand was placed on her shoulder. Suddenly a surprise feeling flowed into her. She turned around and met a familiar face. Dark wore a smile that matched the previous atmosphere.

"Yo, Hime-san," he said.

The tone he used surprised her. It was the same words he always used to greet her, but it sounded almost like an apology, as if to say sorry about killing the moment back there.

"Ah. Hi," she said simply.

"Eh?" Dark's composure broke down. "Aren't you surprised that I suddenly appeared out of nowhere?"

"Actually, I am," Yuki said returning to her book. "I thought you'd appear out of nowhere sooner than this." Dark was a little disappointed at her answer. Then Uizu popped out of his shirt collar. "Ah, Uizu," Yuki laughed as he jumped on her shoulder and nudged her cheek with his. "It's been awhile since I saw you."

Uizu jumped down to her lap and quietly settled down to nap in the warm air. Yuki stroked his soft white fur as he purred. The air returned. Dark sat on the armrest with one of his legs perched on the loveseat-sized bench. He watched her, silently, sitting there petting Uizu and looking out at the scenery of greens and browns. He waited a moment to burn the image into his memory.

"What's wrong?" Yuki asked. "You've been suspiciously quite. Is anything that matter?" Her face was not written over with "princess," but of just an innocent girl.

"Nothing," he said.

"Are you sure? You're not usually this quiet. Are you sick?" she asked and reached out to touch his forehead. Suddenly his normal temperature rose like the sun.

This is the first girl ever to make me blush, he though to himself. It's so sudden I don't know how to react.

"Do you have a fever? You're a little warm," Yuki said.

"No, no! It's all right. I might have caught a little cold," he lied. "It is a little colder here. I mean, this is pretty high from where Rutile is--"

Yuki picked up a strawberry from the bag next to her and stuck it in Dark's mouth. "Now you are talking too much." She pulled her hand away and smiled. Dark ate the strawberry while Yuki returned to her book. Dark picked up the bag of berries and set it on the far side of the bench and moved to where it was. He crossed his legs at the knees and leaned into Yuki to read what she was. "What are you doing?" Yuki asked at the sudden intrusion. She lifted the book closer to her chest as if to protect it. Dark stroked the sleeping Uizu on Yuki's lap, and smiled.

"Will you read to me?" he asked honestly.

His face looked so at tranquility, it felt wrong to deny his request. She started reading softly never stumbling over words or taking a breath where it wasn't necessary. Dark closed his eyes and laid his head on Yuki's shoulder. "Are you listening?" Dark just muttered an, "mm" as a reply.

The sky was glowing when they returned. The chimney was puffing out gray smoke that reached high up into the sky. The smell of apple pie and a variety of other foods melded with the smells of the forest. Little forest creatures can be spotted near the villa, attracted to the food.

"Is it really okay if I stay over? Won't word get to the kingdom?" Dark asked as they came closer to the villa's front door.

"It's alright. The people here are my mother's old friend, and they treat me like a grandchild, they can keep a secret," Yuki said and opened the door with a key. "I'm back," she said.

"Welcome back, Yuki-hime," Evanna called from the kitchen. "You're just in time, I'm almost done with supper. Why don't you change and then come down."

"Thank you," Yuki said as she took off her shoes and entered. "You won't mind two more mouths at the table would you?"

"Oh, do we have company? Even said surprised and a little shocked. Evanna came out of the kitchen.

"Just a few of my friends," Yuki said. "Dark, Uizu, Evanna and her husband Even," she introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Dark smiled at the old couple.

"Oh, what a handsome man," Evanna said. "But you're too thin, just like Yuki-hime. Don't worry I made a lot of food for supper today. I better get back to work."

"Even can you take Dark to a spare room? He'll be staying over and we'll depart together," Yuki said.

"No problem Yuki-hime," Even said. "This way, boy." He led Dark to an upstairs room.

At dinner Evanna made sure Dark ate lot of food to prove her earlier statement of him being to thin and bugged Yuki to eat more also. Uizu was the only one that was stuffed with full of food, which made Evanna really happy.

"Oh, I know Remu," Evanna said. "How's the old girl doing? Is she working you hard?"

"Yes," Dark said. "She's kind enough to provide lodging for me. She opened a bakery just a while ago and working me to the bone."

Even laughed. "That's just like her. I remember back then she would make dozens muffins and then make me do all the cleaning after she fed me with them."

"Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you," Yuki said. "Even is actually Remu-san's older brother. Rutile sure is small."

The foursome company laughed well into the night. After they have dispersed away from the dinner table, Evanna started cleaning along with Even. Yuki sat on the porch swing outside and looked up at the sky. Dark joined her soon. Evanna watched from the kitchen soon joined by Even.

"That's the first time I've seen she smile like that since Her Majesty pasted away," Even said. "It brings back memorizes."

"It does. But I think we should keep quiet of this development," Evanna said and hurried with her chores.

"Do you like coming here?" Dark asked. Taking a seat next to her.

Yuki nodded. "My mother used to bring me here."

Dark touched her back. "How does it feel?"

"It's fine. No one had noticed yet," Yuki said. "I would like to know who to hide them like you do. The magic is getting weaker."

"Yeah. I'll teach you how to do it tomorrow, okay?"

"Fine. I'm going to bed now. Don't you dare enter, understand?" Yuki said sternly.

"Stingy Hime-san is back," Dark whined. Yuki walked off. "Goodnight," Dark called after her.

"Goodnight," she said and went to her room.


	13. Chapter 13

Thirteen

Yuki knelt in the center of a green patch of fresh grass littered with little wild flowers. She wore a white collared blouse whose sleeves only goes down to the elbow, with a dark brown, full-length skirt with frills down the side and across the edge. Dark had scattered his spell on her wings. Golden feathers stood erect on her back, glowing dimly in the morning light.

She was trying to master folding up her wings so they stayed hidden from human eyes. She inhaled one more time and concentrated on the image of folded wings. Open, bent, and closed. She opened her eyes from concentration and looked behind her, just a little of the light was still left, but defiantly no wings. She exhaled softly; she's been trying this since the crack of dawn and finally had hidden them herself.

Dark jumped down from on of the tree branches he was napping on. Yuki stood up. He dog whistled. "Wow, that was fast. I took a month to hide it perfectly. This only took you four hours. Impressive." He clapped.

"That is to be expected of one who has been studying all her life to be swift and perfect at whatever she does," Yuki reasoned.

"You should be more flexible, you know like a thief," Dark joked.

Yuki glared at him. "I am flexible!" She walked right under his face and looked up.

"Really?" Dark imposed.

"Yes, especially when you are working on a government matter and things go terribly wrong, and there are officials and nobles watching your every move. And the there's the sake of the kingdom; will they be affected in a good way or negative, will the notion start a rebellion?" Yuki flared up all of a sudden thinking about past struggles.

That doesn't sound like much room for flexibility, Dark thought. "Anyways," he said, "Let's get back to the villa, it's almost time for breakfast."

They walked back to the white summerhouse, gray smoke puffed out of the chimney and the scent of pie loomed around the area. Yuki entered through the glass door on the side of the house.

"We're back," she called. She took off the sandals on her feet and patted dust off her skirt before entering. "Evanna, is breakfast almost finished?"

"Yes, Yuki-hime." Evanna came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a pink apron. "You're going back to Rutile tomorrow, aren't you? What would you like to eat as a keepsake until your next visit? It is the only thing I can offer there."

Yuki thought awhile. "I would like a help make a meal, if that's not a bother to you."

"Well, I never heard such a request from a princess," said Evanna quiet happy. "Of course I'll be your teacher, Yuki-himesama." She bowed humbly.

"Then I'll be in your hands," Yuki said tilting her head as a bow.

Later after breakfast Yuki and Dark rested outside. She sat at the bottom of the tree in the shade reading the very last of her book. He sat on a thick branch napping. Suddenly, a miniature pair of wings popped from Yuki's back. Startled by it for a second and calmed down. She closed her eyes to concentrate and hid them away again. She reached to feel the magic better with her hands, and then she remembered something she wanted to ask Dark. She closed her finished book and stood up. She saw Dark sleeping and didn't want to wake him up, instead she watched him sleep for awhile.

Then the grandfather clock sounded for eleven o'clock. Dark pulled away from his sleep from the bell ringing. Dark looked down at Yuki looking up at him.

"Yuki-sama," Evanna said, "should we start with lunch now?"

"Yes," answered Yuki and she went into the house.

Soon Dark smelled the nice aroma of a meal being prepared and heard the bustling of pots and pans on a hot fire. In his heart he anticipated a full stomach in the next hour or so.

Yuki tried very hard to cook well for the very first time. She often had seen her mother cook along side Evanna when she was still a little girl. The late queen's hands moved at a fast and accurate pace. She often dabbed her brow to wipe sweat off due to the heat, and always looked tired after when everyone is sitting at the table. It was the same with Evanna. Even though they are tired and sometimes their fingers might be cut or their skin burned, but they always looked satisfied eating with everyone.

But cooking ensued to be harder than it looks. First Evanna told her to boil water, which was easy. Then she was instructed to chop vegetables. Her chunks of uneven vegetables were far from her mothers evenly shaped ones. Evanna sifted through the batch looking for larger ones to cut so you are able to fit it into the mouth. Soon the water was bubbling, so Yuki stirred in noodles. Evanna cut up the meat that goes with the veggies, while Yuki washed vegetables for another dish, but ended up splashing water everywhere.

She quickly went off to change, when she came back Evanna was starting cook the first dish. She poured a little oil into a heated pan. Yuki came close to see, but Evanna warned her to back away. Yuki backed up but not far enough, when Evanna threw in the wet vegetables the oil started sputtering and a hot drop of oil jumped on Yuki's arm. She jumped up. "Yuki-sama, are you alright?" Evanna turned the fire off and helped Yuki rinse her arm. Of course the burn wasn't deep, but it left a little pink spot on her skin.

"I'm alright," Yuki assured. But then the bubbling noodle water over filled and spilled out of the pot. The fire sputtered underneath and sizzled. Evanna quickly turned the fire off and got a basket ready to filter the tap water to cool the noodles. But some strands stuck to the bottom of the pot, because Yuki forgot to stir it.

"It's alright, Yuki-sama. It's your first time, no worries. And these noodles came out perfect."

She started again with the second dish, but this time she put to much oil and when she rolled the pan a little to even out the oil it spilled out and landed on the fire and cause a big uproar of flames.

Dark and Even (with Uizu sitting on his shoulder) rushed into the kitchen at the princess' scream. Dark quickly jumped in to save the day and turned the fire down.

"Are you alright, Hime-san?" Dark asked. Yuki gave him a weary smile, shocked to the point that she can't speak. "I'll help so you take a rest alright?"

Then after Yuki calmed down again she started again. She started cutting up cilantro for the sauce that goes with the noodles. But suddenly her finger slipped and she ended up cutting herself.

"Ow!" She held the end of her index finger tightly.

"Yuki-sama, what happened?"

"I'm alright," Yuki said. "It'll stop bleeding soon. Carry on." Evanna looked worried for her princess, but she continued to her cooking. Even went back to his paper.

"I need some more vinegar," Evanna said and went out to the storage to get more.

Yuki still held her finger tightly; the bleeding hasn't stopped. Dark came with a wet napkin to wipe the blood away.

"Geez, can't you do anything right?" Then he dried off her finger. He ripped a strip off and wrapped it around her finger. "Hold it there." He went to the cabinet and took down the first aid kit. He pulled a chair in front of her. He searched in the box for alcohol. "It's alright, I remember my first time. I spilled the boiling water, burned myself with the hot pan, dropped a bag of ground beef on my foot and also cut myself at the end. I was six at the time and on my own and just finished my training and left alone on earth to finish my job." Yuki chuckled a little. Embarrassed, Dark dabbed a little alcohol on her finger, and her face scrunched up in pain. He wrapped a bandage around her slim finger.

"You had it hard since you were little, didn't you?" Yuki asked.

"That's no way to speak like a princess. Plus, people learn from their mistakes, well, the smart ones. You mess, up to learn, that's why God didn't make up perfect. If we were all perfect, there wouldn't be guardian angels like Sempai or me. Then we wouldn't have met." He held her hand.

Yuki thought about how Dark lived his life always alone, and yet he always smiled.

Dark held her hand next to his lips and kissed it. "What a pity, such smooth hands are now scarred."

"Dark," Yuki started, but then she was embarrassed as Evanna walked in.

"Why don't you take a break? Evanna and I will finish the rest," Dark said. Yuki nodded and left the kitchen.

After lunch, dinner came, and Yuki was determined to do a better job this time. Well, she didn't spill oil, or burn herself, or splash water everywhere, but the meat was still a little raw and the vegetables were too big or too small.

"Great job, Yuki-sama," Even said. "I never thought I'd eat a meal that Yuki-sama made herself. I'm honored." He merrily ate.

"Well, Dark helped me a lot and there's still a lot of room to correct, but I'll try harder next time. And one day make a proper meal just like Mother did."

"Well, I'll be waiting for that pleasure," Evanna said. "By the way how's Kyo-sama? I haven't seem him in such a long time."

"Kyo's busy with studies as the crown prince. I'm sure if he had the time, he'd come by."

"Well, tell him to take a holiday. I don't think working so hard is good for his little body. Well, I don't think it's so small anymore, I'm sure he's grown."

"Yes, but he's still quiet small."

"I'm sure he'll make a splendid King someday," Even said.

After cleaning up everything, Yuki felt satisfied with all the work she has done. Walking out of the kitchen she saw Dark sitting outside watching the sunset. She walked out to join him.

"It's really beautiful from here isn't it?" She sat next to him.

"It is. Much better than from a small window above a busy street."

"Mother used to sit outside watching the sunset and the moon and stars appear. I wonder if she knew about being an angel? And if thinks about heaven."

"Well, I don't think we'll ever know for sure. When I examined you, the angel power was sealed so I didn't sense it before, neither could I tell if it was present in the previous body. So I can't tell if it was also sealed in your mother, or if she personally sealed the power in you. Do you remember anything? Or maybe don't remember something? The power to seal something so powerful as and angelic presence might have done some damage."

"Well, the last time I saw Mother was when she," she paused as it flashed back into her mind. She shuddered. "There is a small part I can never remember. That was about the time my mother died."

Dark wrapped his arms around her. "It's alright, you don't have to remember what happened then. I'm sorry, I made you remember something bad."

Yuki snuggled. "Hey, Dark, do you think you'll ever return to Heaven?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I'll return one day."

"Can you take me with you?" Yuki asked. "Kyo and father has the kingdom secured, I'm sure of it, but I want to go back home."

"I promise I'll take you with me, as long as you are willing to wait for that day."

"I promise. "Yuki held out her pinky.

"Really? A pinky promise?" Dark asked.

"Hurry up," Yuki said. Dark reluctantly hooked his pinky with hers.

"So Hime-san is still a child," Dark concluded.

"I'm not a child. I just want to be me, before I have to be a princess again tomorrow."

"That'll be nice. To be me before I'm a waiter for Remu-san tomorrow."

They both laughed.

Even and Evanna watched from afar as their princess, whom they always saw as a granddaughter laughed so merrily before the man she loved.

"Even, I think I'll write a story about our princess," she said. "I'll call it 'The Snow Princess.' What do you think?"

"If you do pull it off dear, I'll paint a portrait of our princess for your story."

"Very well then. It'll be our keepsake for the world. May it always remember our beautiful and fair princess."


	14. Chapter 14

Fourteen

What Really Happened

_Yuki. My daughter._

A young woman with long silver locks rolling down her shoulders stood next to a large alabaster column. Long robes of velvet covered her from head to toe to shelter her from the frigid weather in the cold walls of the castle.

_Yuki. My daughter who has the same blood as my predecessors flowing through her, with the power of her ancestors, smile, smile for me._

The young woman held a baby wrapped in cashmere cloth. He slept quietly in her arms. She watched a younger Yuki play in the courtyard. The young girl looked up at the sky, she waited for her namesake, snow. She'd heard from her mother and her nanny and Evanna that day she was born it snowed in Rutile after decades. She wanted to lay eyes on snow again. She'd heard that it was light and fluffy and will disappear in your mouth.

"Yuki," she heard her mother's soft voice. "Come here. It's time for your noon meal." On her short legs the little princess ran over to her mother's warmth.

"Mother," she said. "Will it snow this year?"

"Maybe. Maybe God will let it snow on your third birthday." She ruffled her daughter's soft hair. She loved seeing her smile, so sweetly, so innocently. "Now let's go in before you catch a cold."

_Your third birthday, what should I give to you, my dear?_

"It's off to bed now, darling Yuki," she said. "I'll personally tuck you in, for it's your birthday tomorrow." The queen handed the baby Kyo to his nanny and ushered Yuki to bed.

She pulled the heavy mattress over her daughter's fragile body. She pressed her ruby lips on Yuki's forehead.

"Mother, will God come see me tomorrow?" Yuki asked.

"I don't know? Such things only God knows himself. Maybe He'll send a messenger to protect you. Or maybe he had already foreseen what is to come and sent a messenger to you ahead of time. We'll never know."

"Really?" Her daughter's large lavender eyes looked at her sleepily.

"Yes, but only if you go to sleep right now. You never know when God comes, what if He comes in the morning and you are still sleeping and can't greet Him."

"Alright, Yuki'll sleep." She dunked her head into the covers.

Fuyumi-Ojo (queen) blew out the candle, "Goodnight my dear," and she silently closed the door.

The queen entered the large empty bedchamber. She sat on the mattress; the room seemed cold with its vintage. She lit a few candles, around the room, but they didn't help warm the room. She sighed. She opened up her wings and beckoned her powers forth. The feathers of her wings dispersed all around the room, each floated around the room and formed into a small round orb and slowed sank down and disappeared. Nothing happened to the room, but the atmosphere felt different.

Fuyumi sighed and smiled. She took a heavy coat and draped it across her shoulders and went out to a terrace. The wind combed through her hair and she looked to the cloudy sky. Once again she pulled her powers out and did a little weather forecasting. In her eyes the clouds formed and deformed and the sun sank and rose, and then very slowly little bits of white fell from the sky. She closed her eyes and smiled.

Morning rose again and the queen hurried to the kitchen.

"Grand Chief, good morning," she greeted.

"Ah, have you come here to make the young princess' cake yourself?" The chubby man has known Fuyumi for many years.

"You always read me like a book." Everyone laughed. The chief quickly gathered the pots and pans that are needed and the others gathered the ingredients. Since coming from a family of lower nobility, Fuyumi always spent her days in the kitchen watching the cooks and chief prepare the meals. After coming to the palace, she was granted more freedom and learned slowly.

Soon the cake had many layers with decorations everywhere in every color imaginable on a cake. Fuyumi wiped the sweat from her forehead, satisfied with the creation.

"Oh, Yuki-hime would love such a cake," the Grand Chief complimented.

Then the Evanna, who was Kyo's nanny at the time, came rushing in. "Fuyumi-Ojo," she bowed. "Kyo-ojisama needs you."

"Well, that's everyone's wake up call." She laughed it off and rushed out the room to care for her son.

When she got to the room, Yuki hung over the side of the crib singing to the little babe. Kyo was lulled into sleep by Yuki's soft song, and she stroked his hair back and forth.

"Yuki," Fuyumi whispered softly not to wake up the baby prince. "Dress now, I have a surprise for you." The five-year-old Yuki nodded and jumped away from the crib and scurried to her room and quickly dressed in something warm. Fuyumi-Ojo lifted Kyo-oji from his crib and wrapped him in a velvet coat.

"I'm finished," Yuki said excited to get the surprise.

"Alright, let's go." Very soon Yuki's eyes grew wider as she gazed up at the height of the cake. "Thank you, thank you, mother!" She hugged her mother tightly.

"You should also thank the Grand Chief Kaku. He helped out a lot."

"Thank you, Kaku-ojiisan (uncle there is a very subtle difference between prince (oji-sama) and uncle (Ojii-sama). Actually I haven't figured it out yet.)." She hugged the plump man but only stood up to his knee.

"Yuki," her mother said with a serious tone. "See to your manners."

"It's alright, Fuyumi-sama."

"Mother," Yuki interrupted. "How am I supposed to blow out the candles that high up?"

"Your manners," Fuyumi said.

The grand chief lifted Yuki up to his shoulder. "Is that better, Yuki-sama?" Now Yuki was eye level with the little lights and can see them very clearly.

"Ah! We have to blow out the candles quickly or else it'll melt on the wax!" Yuki shouted. Everyone quickly sang a happy birthday with each on a different key, Yuki opened her mouth wide and sucked up a lot of air and blew it all out. If the candles didn't smother from the wind, they smothered from the saliva. "Yay! I'm six-years-old now!"

"Congratulations." The Grand Chief helped Yuki cut first and they handed out pieces out to everybody. The adults had champagne with Yuki and Kyo settled with orange juice and occasionally some cider. Then in the middle of the party Theodil-o burst in the room sweaty and very un-kingly.

"You guys started without me?" he wined.

"But you said you had a conference that would last into the late afternoon," Fuyumi said.

"I got out of it to be here," he said. "Where's Yuki?"

"Father!" Yuki said running to him and hugged his leg. "I'm so happy that you're here! Look at the cake! It's so tall!"

"That really is a very large cake." Even after it's been cut up it stood at the king's waist if it were set on the floor. "Did Fuyumi make it?"

"Yes, it did," Fuyumi handed her husband a slice. "Enjoy!"

Late into the afternoon, when the cake was finally finished with the help of advisors and generals of the court and military, everyone settled down and returned to their daily tasks.

Fuyumi sat on a lounge chair looking into the courtyard. Kyo lay in a crib next to her sleeping soundly. Yuki played in the middle of the courtyard chasing a butterfly. The sky was cloudy. Fuyumi closed her eyes, and then Yuki gave out a shrill cry.

Two masked men dropped from the high wall of the fortress and one of them grabbed Yuki. Fuyumi got up from her seat to stop him from taking her away.

"Don't move a step, your majesty," the other said, taunting her with a blade to her neck. "If you want your daughter back, shimmy up twenty thousand rubles."

Fuyumi held her tongue. Yuki cried again and agitated Fuyumi from keeping calm. Evanna rushed in.

"Don't you move, nanny!" he threatened. Evanna stood frozen next to Kyo. Yuki cried louder as the masked man dragged her away.

"Yuki!" Fuyumi yelled. She leaped forward.

"Stop!" the other said and swung his sword at her cutting her arm and grabbed her.

"Mother!" Yuki yelled as she saw her mother wounded.

"Shut up, you brat!" the gruff masked man said. Yuki cried louder. "Shut up or I'll stick you right here and now!"

Fuyumi on impulse turned with cold eyes and looked straight into the one holding her intensely. Her eyes bore into him. He felt like the power can kill him instantly. He shuddered a little and let go of her hand.

Fuyumi continued to her daughter. Just before she reached her, the man behind her snapped out and stabbed Fuyumi from behind. The blade bore right through her body.

Yuki saw all of this. She heard the man that stabbed her mother chuckled evilly.

"You were not supposed to kill her, you idiot! Now your hands are soiled," he man holder her said.

"But, Aniki (formal for older brother), she has some freak power." He took his hands off of the blade. "Whatever."

"Yu-Yuki," her mother muttered. "Live. Continue to live. This is all I can do for you. Happy Birthday." Fuyumi lifted her hand in pain.

Yuki's eyes grew wide again, from horror. She screamed again. Small wings summoned from her back, heated with anger and fear. They exploded into a whirl of feathers. Swirling around the four people in a tornado, they cut what ever they touched. The man that stabbed her mother's throat was slit. The man behind her unbound her and was severely damaged.

_Please, God, protect my child. Please don't let her feel the pain of her predecessors. Have mercy on her._ Fuyumi pleaded as her body was also attacked by the fury. She wearily lifted a hand and tapped Yuki on the forehead. Suddenly the power ceased. They deadly feathers disappeared into light orbs and dispersed.

Fuyumi fell to the ground in. Yuki's eyes were wide opened but she wasn't awake. The man left staggered backwards, his mask was disintegrated, his face messed up.

"Monster!" he yelled. "Monster! Freak! Alien!" He quickly got up and ran to the rope that was hanging. He climbed up. Fuyumi never noticed the guards standing around them also stunned with Yuki's power. "I'm going to get you back! Just wait!" the man yelled before disappearing.

Fuyumi closed her eyes. _At least for now, Yuki will be safe._ She lastly remembered Yuki's smiling face and breathed her last.

Yuki was the first one to back to conscience. She found herself covered in blood. Her mother lay lifeless in front of her. Her blood seeped into the cracks on the stone ground. All the warmth seeped out of her; she fell to her knees and cried over her mother's body. Soon the soldiers and guards came too. No one knows exactly what happened. The king was also there, seeing to the crying Kyo.

Then the snow started to fall. Yuki had stopped crying now; she stood up as the snow covered her bloodied head. She went to Kyo side and started to sing him back to sleep.

* * *

In a far away land, Dark swiped the sweat from his forehead after a long training process. He looked to the sunny sky. He looked at the direction of Rutile. Tears swelled up in his eyes.

"Dark?" his sempai (senior) said. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know why I'm crying. It's just a sad feeling. The tears won't stop." The young angel was confused.

His sempai came over to him and embraced him. "It's alright."

* * *

In the land of Lagoone, in a nice office the golden haired angel looked out the window at the little Rutile. A smirk appeared on the little boy's face.

"What is it, Krad?" a superior asked him.

"I'm excited! I love this feeling! Cry little angel. Cry!" He laughed a laugh much too mature for his size. Soon he calmed down. "I should go soon. The plan is starting to take motion."


	15. Chapter 15

Fifteen

Her light eyelashes blended into the color of the white-laced pillow. Yuki opened her eyes just a tiny bit to peek at the time. Ten thirty-seven. Later than the time she usually wakes up at, but she figured since she had to attend a meeting that dove late into the night, her father will let her off this time.

She decided to sleep until someone comes to fetch her. She closed her eyes again and sighed softly dreaming how the day will go smoothly.

Then a shadow appeared standing on the balcony. The dark imprint of a man showed through the ivory lattice curtains keeping the light out. Then with a little click the lock flipped open and the balcony doors swung open pouring light into the room.

Yuki winced from the blinding light and moaned. Her dream was now shattered.

Dark entered the room with a mighty entrance. "Good morning, Hime-sa— ga!" Yuki threw a pillow at this head with immense force, making Dark topple over. He got up with the pillow in his hand. "You've really improved your magic skills."

"Shut up. Close the door. Give me my pillow back. Go away. Let me sleep," Yuki ordered one by one with the words slurred.

"But it's already pasted ten thirty. Don't you think it's about time to get up?" Dark said, coming over to sit on her bed.

"Shut uuup," Yuki muttered stuffing her head into her pillow. Yuki gave in and squinted open one eye to look at Dark. "Aren't you supposed to be at work right now?" She pulled her head away from the strong gravitational pull of the pillow and rubbed her face awake and pulled back her pillow head.

"We have the day off. It's her anniversary, her birthday, and her son's finally going to visit her today. He came from Lagoone."

"I see. So are you just going to bug me all day?" Yuki said leaving the bed and headed to her dresser.

"Sure, why not," Dark said after some thought. He grinned and sat down to the coffee table close to the balcony.

Yuki scoffed in the dresser and came out wearing a ivory laced blouse and a dark brown skirt that falls below the knees. She swiftly took a thick dark green ribbon and a smaller red ribbon from the stand and held them with her lips as she started French braiding her hair. She took the green ribbon from her mouth and tied the end off.

"What's the red one for?" Dark asked.

She took a step toward him and circled her index finger telling him to turn around. Confused, Dark only obeyed. Yuki then grabbed his hair and tied it in a low ponytail.

"There. That's much better." She sighed and grinned as if she just got rid of a dead rat.

Dark felt his newfound hairstyle. "This is pretty good. I can actually feel the wind now. Red is a nice color on me."

"Idiot," Yuki commented. "Black would look better."

"Then I want a black one," Dark said holding out his hand.

"Don't be so demanding!" Yuki yelled at him. "I'm going out now."

"Out into the city? Will your dad allow you without a bodyguard?"

"I always sneak out. Nobody wants to stay in this large cold castle all the time." Yuki opened slipped into brown traveling boots and opened the balcony doors wider. "Now that I've learned a new trick I don't have to sneak around the castle anymore. And I want to visit some old friends." She stood up on the marble ledge. "Are you coming?"

"Of course."

"Then hurry up." With her mood somewhat soothed, Yuki leaned forward and fell down the balcony.

"Hime-san," Dark yelled after her thinking she was going to fall to her death. Then her wings opened and she soared over the ocean. He smirked "I'm going to kill you for that later!" And he jumped off the balcony.

Krad watched from the window looking out at the ocean. "And so the board is set." He ran his long fingers through his long blonde hair. "It's a pity. I rather liked you."

* * *

"Hime-sama," a young girl just a little older than Yuki greeted as the she entered the old cabin by the side of the forest. "Ma, the Princess has run off again!" she called to the back of the room. "Excuse us, Yuki-sama. Ma's sick and we've been busy trying to run the store and keep this house clean." She started picking up clothes and other things left on the ground.

"It's alright, Mai-san. I'm always in your care for my own selfishness. Where's Ryou-san?" Yuki asked entering the house.

"He out hunting," she said with sarcasm. "Although I don't know what he does out there?"

Then Dark entered through the small opened called an entrance. He had to bend over in order to get through.

Mai laid her eyes on him and could not take them off.

Yuki introduced them indifferently. "Mai, this is Dark. Dark, you're smart enough to guess who she is."

"Hime-san, that was the most indifferent tone I heard anyone ever use."

"Nice to meet you," Mai said. Finally able to pull her eyes off the irresistible pull of gravity standing before her, she pulled Yuki to one side totally forgetting courtesy.

"Who's he?" she asked. Yuki couldn't make out her mood.

"Like I said. His name is Dark."

"No, like is he a duke or a noble, or something. He was standing right next to you like he's equal rank with you." Mai muttered more and more of her own reasoning. "No! He can't be a prince can he?" she gasped.

Yuki gently lifted Mai's arm off her shoulders. "He's just an acquaintance. He's not even nobility, so there is no way he's Royalty."

"He might not be your Prince, but he sure is mine!" Mai said, holder her hands together in front of her chest and sighing at the word "prince."

"And I bet he's the Prince of the rest of the girls here in this kingdom and all the other's he's been traveling through," Yuki said.

"He's a traveler?" Worry flooded her face. "Then he might have a girl in another kingdom waiting for his return."

"I doubt that," Yuki said, very sure that was not possible.

"Wait," Mai commanded. "If he's not yours can I have him?"

Yuki sighed.

Then a boy younger than Yuki came into the house. "Mai, why is the door opened?" He trailed off at the sight of a stranger standing in his house. "Who are you?"

"Name's Dark." He offered a hand that the boy cautiously took.

"Ryou." He looked around and saw the expected face that his sister would have at the presence of a pretty face. Then Yuki's face took him by surprise.

"Yuki-sama!" he exclaimed almost throwing himself at the corner of the room. His face turned bright red. Quickly, and with some weird movements, he stood up straight and bowed. "I didn't know you were here, Yuki-sama." His voice was quivering.

"Ah, Ryou-san. Long time no see," Yuki said normally. "How have you been?"

"J-just fine! Th-thank you-u, Yu-yuki-sama." His head still bowed.

"Ryou-san," Yuki said. "Lift your head."

"Y-yes!" He said and lifted his head with his eyes still strongly shut. He opened his eyes to meet the lips his admired princess. This took him to an Olympic record level of red.

Yuki laid her hand flat on his head to measure his height. "You're almost as tall as me! Soon you'll be taller than me, and then I can't see you as a little brother anymore," Yuki said smiling and honest.

"Li-little brother?" Ryou questioned himself. All hope lost.

Dark whistled. "That was tough." He laughed and patted Ryou's head. "Being and brother is worse than being a friend."

"Mai-san, I'm going to see your mother," Yuki said and headed to the back.

There lay a thin old lady resting gently.

"Kai-san," Yuki whispered and took the woman's hand. If felt warm full of a fever.

"Yuki-sama," Kai said, opening her eyes wearily. "It's nice to meet you again Little Princess."

"I'm not a little child anymore Kai."

"I know, but ever since your mother died, I always took care of you. And then we were dismissed; yet you didn't forget us. You were always part of this family."

The old woman lifted her skinny hand and rubbed Yuki's cheek. "You've grown so beautiful. I heard there were many nobles asking for you hand. That must be problematic."

"More than you can imagine."

"But I heard Mai yelling outside. Is there a handsome man?"

"Handsome, yes, but even more problematic than the nobles. But he's also very kind."

"I'm glad." Kai said. Yuki did not understand what she meant. "Anyways, how's Kyo-sama? Is he a tall strong man yet?"

"Almost. He's as tall as Ryou-san."

"My, my. Ryou has got to grow. So, how's the old king doing?"

"Just fine. Nanny," Yuki said softly. "Get some rest. And when you're better come visit me at the palace. You can bring Mai-san and Ryou-san along. I'm sure Mai-san will love the new Captain of the Guard from Lagoone and Ryou-san would take Kyo and annoy the Teacher all day long. It would make my day much more interesting."

"Well, let's me sleep so I can get better child." The old nanny closed her eyes and fell asleep.

"Alright, Nanny Kai," Yuki said and kissed her forehead. She stepped out the room. "What are you doing?"

Dark was sitting at the table filling up his stomach.

"I was waiting for you."

"Get up. We're leaving," Yuki said. "I was going to take you to a very good restaurant, but I guess you're already full."

"But, you took so long."

"Your right. I'm sorry." Yuki turned to Mai. "Mai-san, here." She handed Mai a bag of coins. "I'm sure than can sustain things around here for awhile. If not you can always come looking for a job at the palace. I would love someone to talk to."

"Thank you, Yuki-sama." Mai said and combed her fingers through Yuki's hair.

"No problem. You're always going to be in the place of my older sister. I'll be going now. Good bye." She stepped out the door. "Good bye, Ryou-san."

"Ah!" he said caught by surprise.

"See ya, kid!" Dark said.

Ryou grabbed the end of his shirt. "Wait! You still haven't answered my question."

"What was it again?" Dark said, obviously not paying attention at the time.

"How do you win over Yuki-sama's heart?" He said with a look of diligence.

Dark bent over so he was eye-to-eye. "I'm not going to tell you." He teased.

"Why not!"

"Because, I'm not handing her over to anyone."

Yuki and Dark spent the day outside. Laughing merrily, their bond grew tighter. Never knowing what was going to come.

"Hime-sama! Hime-sama!" A retainer called running to Yuki's side. When he was finally by her side he was well out of breath.

"What is it?" She put a hand on the man as a notion for him to calm down.

"Hime-sama, we have others looking for you. You have to return to the palace now!" He looked worried. "It's Kyo-sama. He's fallen ill."

"What?"

"We have to return now! Please excuse my rushing," he grabbed her hand and started pulling her toward a carriage.

Yuki taken aback by this servant's care for his master forgot that Dark was standing behind her for a second. She looked back but he was no longer there. She looked up at the sky and there he was soaring high above her head, headed for the castle.

The sky darkened and the sun hid behind the clouds.

Krad stood in his new office at the palace. "And the games begin." He smirked under his beautiful appearance. His golden eyes gleamed. "Indulge me, Dark Mousey."


	16. Chapter 16

Sixteen

Yuki almost sprinted through the castle to Kyo's room. She burst into the large cold medieval walls. A doctor was sitting besides him taking his temperature. The nurse by his side walked over to Yuki.

"Your Majesty," she bowed.

"What's wrong with Kyo?" Yuki asked. Something must be terribly wrong. They won't get a personal messenger if the young prince was only down with a cold.

"Please, Yuki-himesama, calm down," the nurse said. "Kyo-ojisama fainted during his studies this afternoon. The doctor does not know why yet, but he's working to find out."

The doctor came over to speak with Yuki. "The Crown Prince's condition seems stable now. Unfortunately, I don't know what the problem is yet. But he still has a very high fever. For now, I would give him lots of water to drink and keep him warm. I will to some research on his symptoms and be back tomorrow for another check."

"Onee-sama," Kyo called like a question in a frail voice. "Is that Onee-sama?"

Yuki pushed past the doctor and the nurse and walked to Kyo's side. "Yes, I'm here. There is nothing to worry about."

She kissed his forehead which burned like a log on fire. "Everything's going to be better. You'll get well soon."

She held his hand and shuddered. They were as cold as ice. She put both her hands on his, hoping to warm them up a little.

"Rest now," she said. "When you wake up, I'll have the maids prepare a bath for you."

"Okay," Kyo said with just a whisper and was asleep before his next breath.

The doctor excused himself with his nurse. Yuki stayed up and dismissed the maids. She crouched next to Kyo's bed a rested her head on it. She was prepared to fall asleep when suddenly someone knocked on Kyo's windowsill. Yuki got up and opened it for the thief.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"You ran off in a hurry, I didn't get the chance to say goodbye," Dark flirted.

Yuki ignored him and returned to Kyo's side. His breathing has calmed but he was still as hot as a burning ember. She rung out the wet cloth set in a bowl of water on Kyo's reading desk and put the cool cloth on his forehead. She held his hand in hers. They felt like live coals.

This was the first time Dark has seen Yuki so worried over something. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"This is not normal. The doctor doesn't know what it is, but it's burning him. Kyo," Yuki said in a broken voice. Kyo stirred in his sleep and moaned weakly. His breathing started to become thin like he really was on fire. Sweat drops formed on his skin; soon his clothes became so damp with sweat it needed to be changed.

As Yuki was changing him Kyo opened his eyes weakly. "Onee-sama?"

"Yes?" she asked frantically. "How are you feeling?" She wiped away some of the sweat from his face.

"Like I've just sat on a cactus. It hurts and burns." He put a feeble hand on her cheeks. "I'll be fine. It's not like I haven't fought a fever before."

Yuki's tears almost escaped her eyes. "Mmm," she muttered because she couldn't be sure.

"Onee-sama," Kyo said, "Who is that behind you? I can't see clearly."

Yuki turned around anxiously. She had forgotten Dark was still in the room. She was prepared to act as alarm but stopped when she saw his face. He was staring intently at Kyo's as if reading a book. His face was full of determination she'd never seen before.

She turned back to Kyo. "He's a friend."

"I see," Kyo said. "Nice to meet you, Kaito Dark-san. Thank you for taking care of my sister," he said with a weak smile.

"Yeah," Dark said with his superhero smile.

Yuki wondered if Dark was speaking to him telepathically.

"Onee-sama," Kyo said. "Good night."

"Mmm, good night," she said and kissed him on the forehead again. After she was very sure he was asleep she asked Dark, "What did you see?"

"Your little brother's condition was not caused by an epidemic of any kind. It's something supernatural. The user has put a lock on it. I've never seen it before. Well, technically there shouldn't be another being like me or you. We've met a similar problem like this before. I'm sure you remember it quite well."

"The masked man," Yuki muttered.

"Yeah. His magic was transplanted into him. No one can actually learn magic like that unless it's Satanic. His magic was… artificial. I'm sure there's another person just like us, but evil. Anyways, I'll keep looking. Get some rest, Hime-san," Dark said crouching close to Yuki's head to whisper the last few words into her ears. "I'll be back later." And he flew out the window.

Yuki went to the window and looked out to the sea. She heaved out a heavy sigh and closed the window.

"How's the Crown Prince doing?" someone said behind her.

She whipped around to see who the intruder was. Krad stood at the door in all his glamour. His long blonde hair was more radiant than ever. And his white clothing looked as if it glowed in the dim light of Kyo's room. His face was angelic with his stunning golden eyes reflecting a sad look about him. His uniform still has the emblem of Lagoon.

"I'm sorry for intruding," he said with reverence. "I just wanted to see how Kyo-oji was doing. We got along in the hall just this afternoon and talked a little." He bowed, "I didn't mean any disrespect for being obtrusive. I'm well aware that these are private quarters and a general from another country should not just amble about. I'll we receive the punishment as a servant."

"No. It's alright," Yuki said. She was worried at how much he had heard or seen. She didn't even feel his presence in the room. "I'm sure you just mean good. Please, raise your head now." She was starting to panic a little, but caught her cool soon.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," he said raising his head. "How's Kyo-oji doing?"

"He's just burning up a little. I think he'll be better in the morning if you wish to check up on him tomorrow."

"I'm sorry, but I have an appointment tomorrow. May I come and see him the day after?"

"Of course," Yuki said. His eyes were very captivating.

"Then, please excuse me, Your Majesty," Krad said and bowed again and stepped out of the room, but not before glancing again at Kyo.

A few minutes after Krad left, Kyo started to hyperventilate. His breathing was thin like there wasn't enough air for him to breathe. His gasps were high and sounded of agony. The doctors rushed into his room one after another. Five different doctors were in the room along with the nurses all trying to calm down his breathing. Yuki was ushered out of the room.

She sat in a lump on the floor outside of his room praying for Kyo's safety. She cried and cried. All she wanted to do was drone out the voices of the frenetic doctors and nursed in her little brother's room. Then she felt a little nudge on the side of her leg.

A black kitty with a large ribbon tied around its neck purred while rubbing her hand and leg. It looked up at her with large beaming eyes. It was carrying with it a sack which held a bottle of hot liquid. Yuki opened it and smelled the fragrance of the hot chocolate. She picked up the cat and held him close to her.

The cat looked a little surprised, but went along and enjoyed the hug purring. Then he saw the king coming down the hall. He licked her cheek and scurried away leaving the pouch and bottle behind. The long red ribbon dragged on the floor.

"Ah," Yuki muttered as he jumped away from her. She touched her cheek where he had pecked.

"Yuki, what are you doing sitting on the floor?" her father asked. "I'm going to see Kyo."

Yuki picked up the bottle and pouch and slung it around her shoulder. "You better not at this moment, Father. You'll probably just be kicked out like I was," she warned.

The King opened the door and was amazed at the speed everyone in it was working. Then a nurse spotted him watching the havoc in there. "Your Majesty," she said and put a firm hand on his arm. "I'm going to ask you to step out of the room for now. Please, excuse me."

"Haa…" was the only sound the King could make. "Say, how's my son doing?" He asked before the door was slammed into his face.

"The Crown Prince is doing just fine," the nurse answered unhesitant and pushed him out the room and shut the door.

"See," Yuki muttered and turned to return to her own room.

"Yuki, can you tell me what's going on?" the king asked. "There's something that I don't know. Tell me," he said firmly. "I'm very well aware that Kyo's ailment is not natural. Yuki, answer me!"

Yuki turned around and smiled a smile to cover up what she really wanted to say. "Sorry, Father. Not right now."

Her smile reminded the old king of his late wife's. He covered his face with his hand. "Fine. I've had too many adventures with that smile, I know better than to fight against it. Return to your room daughter. And get some rest." He came over to Yuki and hugged her then kissed her forehead.

"You too, Father," she said and kissed his cheek. "Good night then," she said and went to her room.

He touched the place where she had kissed. It was warm and not cold like before. After years of getting her to warm up, she has done it herself. "Perhaps we should get her a nice partner now."

Yuki entered her room. It was dark and unlit like she had left it this morning. The night outside was bright with the light of the full moon. The cold breeze blew in making the white drapes dance in the silver light. "Do you want to drink this now?" she asked.

Dark came into her unlit room. Half his face was hidden in the shadow while the other was gray under the light. His hair reflected deep blue and silver. His eyes were like a deep purple amethyst, they casted a sorrowful color in the night. His shadow cast the image of a forsaken angel on the floor of Yuki's bedroom. The red ribbon was tied around his neck.

"What's wrong?" she asked trying to lighten up the mood.

"Tsk," Dark muttered sharply under his breath. His face was serious hard. He burst into her room and took her up into is arms. He wrapped his wings around them making a black wall. "Don't make a face like that. Please, don't make a face like that," he pleaded.

Yuki set her head on his shoulder. She heaved out another sigh.

Dark backed away and cupped her face with his hands. "Such a beautiful face should never make such a sad face. It almost breaks my heart."

"Oh?" Yuki said. "Is this a confession I'm hearing here?"

In the silver light, Dark's cheeks became pink. Yuki laughed a high cherry laugh. She put a hand on his cheek and caressed his face. "It's okay. I don't mind if you like me," she teased.

Dark moved away. "As if I'll fall in love with a cold princess like you," he said arrogantly.

Yuki smiled at his awkwardness. She reached out after he stopped moving around and pecked him on the cheek. "Now we're even. Good night," she said and passed him to change into her night dress. She hopped onto her large bed and pulled the covers over her.

Dark came over to her after her breathing was nice and slow. He smirked and leaned over her. "Not good enough, Hime-san," he said and kissed her sleeping lips. "I still win."

He went out to the balcony and closed the doors locking them as usual and flew off the marble stone. He soared over the entire city as silent as an owl in the night stalking its prey. Nothing could be felt out of the ordinary to him.

"Fine, let's see how long you can keep up this game of hide-and-seek," he said to his invisible adversary.


End file.
